Between The Lines
by ILoveFowl
Summary: We all know that the AF series is about Artemis's character delevopment. But what about Holly? Her past was no fairy tale, either. Set in time lapses and between books, Artemis has to heal her wounds. A mix of humor, romance, and pain.
1. Chapter 1

**Yay! Chapter 1 is fixed!**

**These are one-shots of what I like to think of as "deleted scenes" during book 2. Lots of Holly-tormenting. :)**

"I have _no idea_ how weird this must be for you, Holly."

The voice was vaguely familiar. Artemis didn't open his eyes.

He had awoken a moment before, and had heard shifting. At least two people were in the room with him. Both fairies, if he were to judge by the shallow breaths.

"Shut up, Foaly," came the mumbled reply.

Foaly, of course. This was the voice he'd heard briefly near the end of the Fowl Siege.

"Get your head up off the table, Captain," snapped Commander Root. "That is hardly a professional stance. What if the Mud Boy wakes up?"

"I pull my head up off the table really fast?"

It suddenly occurred to Artemis that although he had imprisoned this girl in his house and had complete control over her for almost eight hours, he knew next to nothing about her personality.

"You know," interjected Foaly, "I really expected him to be up by now. Holly, are you sure you didn't kill him?"

There was the frenzied scraping of a chair across the floor, the light patter of feet, and then two fingers were pressed against his neck, at his pulse. He heard Holly's sigh of relief, and, to his surprise, she briefly rested his head on his shoulder.

She walked back to her seat. "Gods, you scared me."

"You know, something tells me you don't hate him as much as you pretend."

"I never said I hated him," she snapped back, and Artemis could imagine her scowl. "And even if I don't like him, I don't want him _dead_."

The centaur snickered. "You made that perfectly clear last year. We lose half a ton of gold to release you, and when you come out, you barely give me a hello before you start begging me not to kill him. _A life is a life, Foaly! Please_!"

"My gods, does my voice actually sound like that? _Please_ tell me my voice isn't that high."

Artemis was startled by this new information. He would have thought Holly would be happy to see him go.

Foaly sighed, obviously irritated by the exchange. "Whatever. Just shut up."

Her tone was belligerent. "No, I will not _just shut up_. I don't take orders from people that are half monkey, half llama."

"Hey!"

Artemis was amused despite himself. And somehow, as soon as the emotion hit him, Holly said, "He's awake."

He opened his eyes, blinking through the bright light.

Root leaned toward him. "All right, Fowl," he spat around a cigar. "Start talking."

**Sorry it's short. More to come.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry this took so long… I made 4 or 5 plot changes while writing this, then decided to save most of it for the next chapter, so…. Sorry.**

"Oh, no, Captain Short. You're the best shuttle pilot I have. You're going to Paris."

Holly swelled a little at the compliment.

Root raised a hand. "But," he added, "I want you to stay in the shuttle. Don't argue with me on this, Holly. No negotiating. You stay."

She crumpled slightly, and opened her mouth to argue, knowing already that it was hopeless. "Sir, please—"

"No."

His tone was final and absolute.

_It's not fair! I haven't seen the sky in almost a year, not counting when I went to collect the Mud Men._

"You all know what to do. Butler will have been on missions like this before." Commander Root walked out the door, then turned around. "Sorry, Captain," he said gruffly. "It's for the best."

The door shut.

Holly let out a little scream.

The centaur crossed the room and slung an arm across her shoulders. "Well, look at it this way—"

"I think that if I hear this, I'm going to punch you."

"I think so too."

She smiled at that, and Artemis studied her intently, taking a mental snapshot. She was small, no more than three feet. That was the first thing anyone would notice. The second was her inhuman beauty.

It wasn't flashy. It was subtle. But it was there all the same, in her huge eyes and thick eyelashes. It was in her caramel skin and the slight curve of her body, her soft cheekbones and full, red lips. Not many people would bother to look for it. Artemis did.

Then Holly shook herself, and the moment was broken. "Let's wake that mountain."

Foaly handed her a syringe and waved her toward the slumbering Butler. "Put it in any old vein," he mumbled.

The LEP captain cocked her head at him. "Why don't you do it?"

"I, ah…I need to, um…" the technical genius replied vaguely, flipping open a panel on the Retimager's side. "I need to fix this," he finished brusquly, pulling a toolbox out of nowhere and rooting through it.

"Are you…. _scared_ of Butler?"

He raised his head and glared.

Holly smirked. "You won't go near him, will you?"

Foaly raised a large wrench. "I will throw this at you."

"You're more likely to hit the Fowl boy than me."

"And would you let that happen?"

"Of course I would," she snorted, a split second too late.

Foaly cocked his head, and with a tiny flick of his wrist, threw the wrench.

Holly vaulted the table, threw herself in front of Artemis, snatched the tool out of the air, threw it back into the toolbox, and was cursing Foaly out before she even landed.

Artemis tried not to stare. He managed it. Barely.

Muttering something that was (luckily) incomprehensible, Holly turned swiftly on one heel and strode over to Butler.

"You're such a softie," Foaly smirked. "It probably wouldn't have even bruised him."

"For _your_ information, oh most intelligent one," the irate elf spat back at him, "It would have splintered his collarbone."

"I'll take your word for it. You're the expert on extreme personal injury."

Holly typed a code into the keypad on one side of Butler's chair, releasing his right hand. She turned it gently over, laid a finger on either side of the vein, then paused.

"Foaly."

"Hmmmm?"inquired the centaur, his head jammed deep in the bowels of his precious Retimager.

"What species was this formulated for?" she asked, waving the syringe around.

"Elf. Why?"

"..Are there any possible dangers in using it on a human?"

Foaly emerged, looking insulted. "Now, Holly. Would I be that stupid?"

"Yes," she responded bluntly.

He sighed. "Well, I wasn't. There will be no side effects. Elves are the most similar fairy species to humans. Same organ placement, same brain… they're even genetically compatible."

Holly sighed. "I know that, Foaly. I did go to school, you know."

"Yeah, you would have paid attention to _that_ part of the lecture…"

"Hey!"

"I wonder where your hands were at the time?"

"FOALY! SHUT UP!"

"My my, so defensive… Just stick the needle in him, okay?"

She complied, and the clear liquid slid smoothly into Butler's vein. Holly waited five seconds, then decided it was her prerogative to panic. "Nothing's happening."

"Calm. Down. It'll take at least seven minutes. If it worked too fast it could give the big guy a headache."

"But…"

Foaly was sick of being patient. "Just let the little one out and wait and see,okay?"

With one last concerned glance over her shoulder, Holly knelt beside Artemis's chair and flipped a panel, revealing a keyboard. She began tapping in a long string of code.

Foaly leaned over the table and addressed the elf. "Holly?"

"Mmm?"

"You do realize you're wearing two different boots, right?"

She glanced back over one shoulder and groaned. "It's not my fault they all look alike! You could make them in different colors, they don't all have to be dark green and black."

"Yes, they do."

"Why?"

"I said they should be, and I like to piss you off."

"I say they should be blue, and I like to hit you."

"Then I will assume that you wouldn't hit your best friend, and continue to make them black and green."

"You know what happens when you assume… oh, wait, you're already an ass." Holly tapped in the last number, and Artemis's cuffs and chest restraints retracted into the chair. He rubbed his wrists,

"Hey! Uncalled for."

"If it looks like a donkey, smells like a donkey, and brays like a donkey, what is it?" Holly, to the young genius's surprise, leaned over and took his forearms gently in one hand. Focusing on Foaly, she absently murmured "Heal."

"A donkey?" Foaly asked hopefully.

"You."

"Great."

Holly watched Artemis's scrapes and blisters-caused by the instinctive jerk he made when Foaly came at him with the Retimager-fade away into smooth, pale skin. Suddenly, she realized what she was doing, and yanked her hand away as though burned. Flushing, she stared into his face, searching for his reaction.

He raised an eyebrow.

Holly blushed to her ears and back, turning quickly and fleeing toward Butler who was, thank gods, just waking up, giving her an excuse to get out of Artemis's sight line.

The boy stared at her back, wondering about this new development. So her dislike of him was not so deeply ingrained that a small distraction could not push it to the back of her mind, bringing out a naturally kind nature. Intriguing.

If anyone with that good a right hook could be called "kind."


	3. Chapter 3

**WOOHOO! November 8, Bram Stoker's birthday! GO DRACULA!**

**Okay, guys: this chapter is one of the reasons this is rated T. Reference to mature themes, namely. But it's absolutely hilarious, in my opinion.**

**This is kind of a longie. And a bit sad.**

While Holly got Butler safely extricated from his bonds and half awake, Foaly continued chatting. "You know, we're getting some transfers from the Atlantis LEP, since we're majorly understaffed and they're only slightly below quota."

"Any names I might recognize?" Holly had been relocated to Atlantis for a year because an escaped troll from the Deeps had put several of their guards in traction. While she was there, another troll had escaped. She had been the only casualty, due to the fact that she had pushed the elf that was guarding with her into a janitor's closet and locked it. He had been from the tech division. No field experience. He would have gotten himself killed. Or at least, that was Holly's stated reason for saving him.

Foaly consulted a list on his laptop. "Retreival mostly, but they're all new recruits, you wouldn't know them... no Recon, we've got enough of those, and Root decided you count for at least ten fairies..."

"He did _not_. Shut up."

"A few techies. Thomas O' Malley? Don't recognize the name? Well, there's... Finnian Skye, Maple Smith, Riley Poole-"

Holly took in a short, sharp breath.

Foaly's head snapped up. "What?"

She blushed. "Nothing. He's just the guy, you know, the troll..."

The centaur stared long and hard at her. The longer he looked, the redder she became. "And," he said, slowly, "that's the _only_ reason?"

She backed away, glancing behind her as though help was waiting in the wings. Unfortunately, there was no one but a groggy manservant anywhere near. "Yes?"

"_Why _did that sound like a question?"

_Deep breaths_. "I mean, _yes_," she stammered, unable to meet her friend's eyes.

Foaly glanced back to the list. "All right then," he said.

Artemis looked at him in astonishment. Surely the fairy wasn't _that_ stupid! Holly's words had been the most barefaced lie he had ever heard. But then Foaly caught his eye and winked. The wink said, _Watch what I can do_.

Foaly said, casually, "So, about Poole..."

"Hmm?" Holly asked, distracted, trying to slow her racing heart.

The centaur's tone was light, easygoing. "What's he like in bed?"

"Dominant," she blurted.

"HA!" Foaly screeched, dramatically flinging a finger at her.

Holly had clapped both hands to her mouth as soon as her unintentional confession had passed her lips. What Artemis could see of her face was now a deep pink. She closed her eyes. "I," she said past her fingers, "am going to kill you. In the most creative, gruesome, _epic _way I can possibly think up."

The technical adviser was doing a little jig. "I wi-in. I wi-in."

"_Zip it_."

He clopped over and pinched her cheeks. "You are _so _easy to fool. It's incredible."

She pushed away from him, smooshing a smile.

Foaly rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Define 'dominant.'"

"Shut _up_!"

He shook his head, remorseful. "Of course, we shouldn't talk about that. There are naive, impressionable children in the room."

Before Artemis could make a sharp reply, Holly piped up, "Naive and impressionable? Foaly, don't talk about yourself that way."

Foaly tossed a screwdriver at her. It skittered under the table. "Can you grab that?"

She sighed, looking towards the ceiling. "I really don't know why I put up with you." She dropped to her knees, crawling between the two chairs and reaching for the tool.

"Don't stand up into the table."

"I won't, I'm not that stupid," Holly scoffed. She stood up.

_Crack_. The table jumped slightly.

The centaur dissolved into braying laughter. "I jinxed it, didn't I?"

There was no reply, excepting a steady steam of highly creative language.

Once the pain subsided, Holly sighed at her luck and got up.

_Crack_.

This time, Foaly's laughter was completely silent, only detectable by his shaking shoulders and the tears running down his face. Taking mercy on his friend, he dropped to his knees and gently tugged her limp form (she had decided lifelessness meant she couldn't hit her head again) out from under the table. Holding her gently to his chest, he laid his head on her shoulder. "You poor thing. I really don't know how you get out of bed in the mornings."

"Mind over mattress," she responded dully.

"Very amusing."

Holly rubbed at the lump on the back of her head, healing it quickly. A few sparks clung to her fingers, and she shook them off. Handing the screwdriver back to Foaly, she said, "You had better appreciate that, due to the personal pain I went through to secure it for you."

"A thousand thanks. Go buzz the Mud Man."

"Oh, yeah, 'cause electrocuting him is _so _going to help us make friends." Holly eyed the enormous human.

Butler slipped to one side.

"Yipe!" Holly rushed over and caught his shoulder. "Come on, Mud-ah!"

Residual magic, still clinging to her fingers, had seeped into the human, clearing the last of his stupor. Butler, coming alert immediately, registered that he was being held. In one swift movement, he stood up and turned. "Captain Short?"

"You okay?"

The manservant raised a brow and did a quick internal systems check. "Everything seems fine. Why?"

Holly shook her head dismissively. "Looks like your magic potion worked, Foaly," she said, leading Butler towards the front of the room.

"Can someone _please_ explain _exactly _what is going on here?" It wasn't a question.

Holly flung a finger toward Foaly. "He can tell you, I'm gonna go get a coffee."

"Traitor," the centaur muttered as she fled.

About to leave, the elf stopped. "Can I get a gun?"

"No," the technical adviser answered out of habit.

"Please?"

He turned his face away. "Still no. And don't even think about using the Bambi eyes on me. I'm not going to look."

"Foaly. Are you trying to make me feel bad?"

"What?"

"I want a gun. And I'm only asking permission as a formality. Technically, you _are _my legal guardian, but I am a legal adult; plus, I'm the officer and you're the civilian, so I don't actually have to defer to you. I'm going to go get a Neutrino whether you say I can or not; and the only thing you're doing by forbidding it is making me feel guilty. So I ask it again: are you trying to make me feel bad?"

The centaur dropped his face into his hands and groaned. "How do you make that sound so _rational_? Gods, I wish your parents had made somebody else your godfather."

"No, you don't."

"No, I don't." He sighed. "Fine. Get a gun. Just go."

"Thank you," she sang, kissing him on the cheek and swinging out the door.

As soon as she was gone, Artemis turned to Foaly. "You want to talk to me about her."

The fairy didn't bat an eyelash. "Yes, I do-but first, let's bring Butler up to speed."

It didn't take them long to explain recent events, so shortly Foaly turned back to Artemis. "This is a long story, so settle back."

Butler pulled his chair up next to his charge's, and the centaur clambered into his swivel chair. "Coral and Marcus Short lived and met in Atlantis. They dated for several years. His parent's didn't approve of her... lineage, and finally put their feet down-he could stay with her and be disowned, or dump her and be accepted back with his family. You can guess which route he took. They transferred LEP's, ran away to Haven-if you live in Haven or Atlantis, running away is a bit of a joke, there's only one place you can go-and got married. Her mother was a doctor, he was on Traffic. Holly was born in 1924." He stopped for a moment to savor their faces-mild surprise on one, blatant shock on the other. "Yes, she's 78. Born on Valentine's day. Sweetest, tiniest, most violent baby I ever saw. She was always... odd, though. She was fascinated with the humans, and once I caught her crying, and asked her why, and she said, 'Isn't it sad, Fo'ey-that humans only live 70 years? They never get a chance to do all the things we can.' She was only five."

"Wait-five?" Butler asked, brow furrowed, trying to fit "78" and "5" into the same brain space.

"Fairies age at about the same rate as humans until puberty, around 10 years old. Then they slow down to around 1 year for every 10."

"Thank you. Continue."

"She also read a lot. Elves are naturally social, but Holly wasn't. It was as though she sensed what was going to happen. And on the first day of school, it did." He paused, and took a shuddering breath, bringing back a painful memory. "She came home with a black eye. When we asked her what it was from, she just looked at us-her gaze was horrible, hollow and dead-and said 'I'm a freak. That's all.' Then walked away. We took her out of school halfway through the year because the bullying got so bad. But somehow, whenever she left the house alone, she came back with a memento-dried blood on her face, a broken wrist. Whenever she was out with someone, nothing happened-so she was constantly accompanied. Of course, after she became a teen she didn't want her parents following her around, so after a bit it was just me and Trouble."

"Trouble?"

"Lived down the block, at the time. He's her next-door neighbor, now. A good friend of hers, even if he was 30 years older. Think three years, remember. But we couldn't always go, and she didn't always want us there, so she started going out on her own again.

Incredibly, it got worse. She wouldn't tell us who it was, but he or she or they obviously had an immense amount of time on his or her or their hands and an intimate knowledge of her day-to-day life, so I went back to the class records-hacked them, really-from her school and got a list of names, then checked juvenile criminal records. Boom-one match. Jasper McKinley, on probation for personal assault. The guy he attacked wasn't hurt, so he didn't do time. I asked Holly about him, and she just burst into tears and hugged me." Foaly blinked hard a few times. "We got her put into martial arts, self-defense, kickboxing, any kind of class that would help her out, and she got better. The beatings weren't as bad."

"Why didn't you turn him in?"

"Two reasons. One, there was no proof; he didn't attack where there were witnesses, security cameras, sound bugs. Once, Holly and I were sitting in her backyard, went inside to get a drink, and when I came back out she had a broken nose and was unconscious."

"He climbed the fence that quickly?"

"No-he flew. He's a sprite. And reason number two: Holly didn't want to say anything. The only people that knew were her parents, me, Trouble, and... some of her extended family. Her mom could give her all the medical attention she could ever need, Jasper had never come close to killing her, and as far as she knew, she was the only one he targeted regularly-she said as soon as someone else started getting hurt, we could blow cover.

And somehow, through it all, the only times she so much as thought about him were while she was hurt. She put him out of her mind entirely once there was no pressing injury. And she had the strangest disposition.

Holly was...intense, I suppose. About everything. And her emotions would pull you in-if Holly was smiling, it was impossible to frown. Coral took her on her rounds-natural therapy. Holly was kind, and trusting, and loving, and she could forget the pain while it wasn't there.

Then she wanted to go back to school. She could deal with Jasper, she wanted to experience high school, et cetera et cetera. We let her go.

Of course, then we never could tell when she was being bullied. She healed herself before she got home, and I felt that watching security cameras would be invading. Eight years of not knowing was hard, but we all made it. Prom was fun; she took Trouble and they came home laughing and completely plastered.

She didn't have a lot of boyfriends. Only one or two through her entire high school period. I noticed a pattern in the ones she dated, though-they weren't popular. She definitely aimed for the nerd crowd. Still does, when she bothers. I figure it's because there's no competition-they can focus on her, and maybe she'll learn something from them. Still, it worried me. She wasn't normal. More so then just your average 'not normal.'

She went into the Academy-the college for potential LEP. Majored in Magic, which is why she's so good with the sparky stuff.

When she was 60 was when things started really falling apart.

First, her father died. Coral and Holly were devastated, Trouble and I were highly upset, and pretty much all of Traffic turned up at the ceremony... Holly laughed less.  
Then her mother died. Holly cut herself off completely for the first week, and ever since..." Foaly shuddered. "She changed. Maybe irreversibly. The first real warning sign was when she cut her hair." He grabbed his laptop, keyed in a few commands, then spun it to face the Mud Men. "That was her at 55."

Artemis and Butler gazed at the picture for a long time, searching for similarities between this girl and the policewoman they were all slightly terrified of. It was an image of Foaly, Holly, and another elf Artemis guessed must be Trouble, arms slung over each others shoulders, grinning madly.

But it was obvious what Foaly was pointing out.

Holly had thick, lush, shining, dark red hair that flowed in loose curls down past her hips. It was heavy and smooth and naturally highlighted in deeper reds and russet and the teenage boy knew that Juliet would have killed for this hair.

And Holly had severed it.

But that wasn't the only difference. There was a glorious fire that burned in the elf's eyes in the image that Artemis had never seen in person. Suddenly, he realized he was smiling just as widely as she.

Incredible.

"Yep," Foaly said. "Beyond weird. And since then she's been more distant than I've ever seen her. Jasper didn't exactly help, though." Foaly steeled himself and launched back into the story. "He had been failing in his attacks. Holly hadn't come home hurt in ages. But after Coral died, it went to a whole new level. Psychological. A nasty remark about her mother could completely destroy her, and leave her easy to defeat physically. For a while, I was afraid... well, fairies have a naturally optimistic outlook, so suicide has only happened a few times in history, but I was really scared. She didn't sleep (still doesn't), didn't eat, cried constantly... I mean, both her parents had died, she had to get a job quickly, it was expected that she would be mourning and stressed. And yet I don't think I have ever fully grasped how deep her pain goes.  
If he did nothing else, Jasper killed her self-image. She knew she was strong, she knew she was talented. But ever since that first day of school, Holly has never seen herself as beautiful. She looks at her face in the mirror, and she sees a hopeless cause. You say she's looking good, and she snorts. She like to get out, make new friends, date...  
But I thought she was improving. A decade after her mother's death, things started looking up. She was pulling herself out of it. And for ten years, things started to slowly get better. But she always neglected the Ritual. Only did it when she absolutely had to. And so she made mistakes on the job. In Hamburg, there was a major screw-up, and she nearly lost her career. Root gave her one more chance."  
Foaly looked up, directly into Artemis Fowl's eyes.  
"He sent her to scout out a rogue troll in Italy. She was almost dry, next to no magic, but she said she was running hot and went. She captured the troll, but humans saw her. Retrieval got there, big cleanup, all good. But Root found out she was dry.  
He sent her to do a Ritual... and you know the rest."

Artemis dropped his gaze.

Foaly's voice was cold, accusing. "It was _all she had left_, Fowl. All she had left was her physical invincibility. And you took that away as easily as you can snap a twig.  
Do you have any idea? And clue what it's like to have to watch your best friend, whom you've known since before she was born, struggle with something like that, and be able to do _nothing_? To watch her doze off, and hear her wake up screaming? To see her come in to work, eyes red, and see her hide it for your sake? Because even after everything-_she_'s trying to protect _me_." Finished with his outburst, he sighed, wiped tears out of his eyes. "I guess you don't know. I guess I can't blame you that much. But I read your file. You're in trouble. Your mother was insane, your father is missing, and I suppose I have to commend you on your creativity. You were desperate. And now, so am I."

Artemis leaned forward. He knew Foaly's central point was coming.

"I want you to fix her."

They had a several-second staring match before Foaly continued.

"Her life is hell, and she has to have some concrete thing to be scared of. You are the obvious choice. An anomaly, seemingly omnipotent, all-powerful. All she needs to see is that you _do_ make mistakes, you _are_ human, and you're not Dracula on steroids. Though that might turn her on..." Foaly mused for a moment. "Her career is being reviewed by the Council, and she's probably going to get booted. She needs to snap out of it, and this mission needs to go well, if we're going to save her job. Just... don't be the cold distant genius the entire time, alright? And if she comes back _any worse_ than she is now..." He paused. "Frond help you. I have an immense amount of viruses in my possession and I will not hesitate to decimate your computer system if you hurt my girl."

"Understood," Artemis said neutrally.

Foaly evaluated him for a second, then nodded. "Another thing you should know: if you make a Lord of the Rings, Frankenstein, Dracula, Princess Bride, Thor, Ironman, or Batman reference, she will revere you for the rest of her natural life. Make a Sherlock Holmes reference, and she will love you unconditionally."

Artemis had made a point to assimilate himself with popular media-he found it was very useful when composing insults-and was happy to find he could, in fact, use any one of the books or movies mentioned. "Why Sherlock Holmes?"

"She found a copy of the Strand magazine-human stuff is sometimes published down under, if it's good-and it was love at first sight. I got a her a book of all the stories a few years ago... I believe she sleeps with it."

Artemis had to smile.

Butler raised a finger. "One question."

"One answer," Foaly quipped. "What is it?"

"Is Holly still being bullied?"

The door opened.

Holly walked in quietly, letting the door swing shut behind her. Trying not to make any facial expression whatsoever, she handed Foaly a cup. "Still hot. Thank the gods he got me on the way there, not back, or it would have spilled."

Her godfather snorted. "Oh, yes, thank Heaven he mutilated you before you got coffee. It would have been such a tragedy, you know, if the drinks had spilled. That's what I was worrying about. My coffee."

Artemis was surprised my this casual exchange in the light of...well, Holly.

The entire left side of her face, from forehead to chin, was a mass of scabs and blood. The skin had been scraped away, and Holly had clearly healed it partially, then stopped, so as not to waste magic, though it hardly would have been a waste to repair what was clearly serious damage. He couldn't imagine what had done this.

A moment later, he wished it had stayed that way.

"Murder weapon?" Foaly inquired, nodding at her cheek.

Holly sighed. "You know that part of the wall in the basement where some of the concrete fell off, and it's all rough now?"

"Yes?"

With her hand, she mimed a wall grinding against her face.

"You were in the basement?"

"Mmm. You should try being thrown down two flights of stairs sometime. It's quite an exhilarating experience." Her biting tone told him that the conversation was over.

Foaly had one last gem to offer. "You look like Harvey Dent, you know."

Holly paused, frozen, and for a moment the centaur thought he had overstepped the line. Then the corner of her mouth twitched. "I though you were asleep during The Dark Knight."

"I was until things started blowing up."

The smile grew until it pulled at Holly's face, stinging. "Ow. Okay, are we all ready to go?"

The fairies and the Mud Men looked at each other for a moment, then rose.

**Listening to "Whiskey Lullaby" by Brad Paisley... and crying. **

**Okay, who can tell me:**

**A) Where did I get Riley Poole's name from? (And if I misspelled it, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE correct me!)**

**B) What about Holly's "lineage" does Jasper not like? (Hint: Cupid. And no, that isn't the answer.)**

**C) Where did I get Thomas O' Malley's name from? (Extra points for this one. Clues: Disney, meow.)**

**D) Was there enough comic relief in here? I feel like it might have been a little depressing.**

**~~ILoveFowl**


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is going to be crappy. Get that into your head now, and don't expect too much. This is mostly filler information that's going to become important later, so you still have to read it. Ha ha.**

**I was very surprised about the answers to the questions I asked in chapter 3. I expected a ton of people to get A, where did I get Riley Poole's name? The answer was National Treasure; Riley is the computer geek with the epic hair that I am slightly in love with. (Him, not just the hair.) The answer to B will be undisclosed, but cheers to Artemis Fowl Nut for figuring it out first! C, I expected fewer people to get, since The Aristocats is a more rare Disney film, but almost every reviewer got that, which gives me faith in our generation. DISNEY FOREVER!**

Holly paused for a moment as they left the room. "Foaly..."

"Yes?"

"I get to take the Truck, right?"

"What truck?"

She looked scandalized. "Foaly! _The _Truck!"

The centaur rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Thanks for clearing that up. I ask it again-"

"THE TRUCK. Big. Graffiti-ed. Smelly, ugly, almost-never-gets-driven, absolutely epic. The. Truck."

"Oh, that truck."

"Thank you."

"Well, I think we could get by without using it..."

"Foa-lyyyyyyy!"

"After all, it isn't completely necessary..."

"Why wouldn't we use it? What, do you expect me to take them on Athena?" Holly nodded her head at the humans, who were now mystified. Athena?

"Please do not insult my intelligence."

"Foaly. Just imagine the look on Trouble's face when you tell him that I got to drive the Truck before he did."

The centaur generally tried to stay neutral between his two best friends' rivalries, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up. The Truck was something of a legend-one of those ancient vehicles that even non-car-lovers have to respect. It was driven so rarely-used for transporting trolls-that it had been in service for several hundred years, and was still going strong, though no one was quite sure what color it had been in the beginning.

Foaly gave in. "Fine. Go. Be careful, don't die, don't do anything stupider than the things you normally do, hope and pray you don't run into too many people, if you do," he turned to Artemis and Butler, "you two, pretend to be _mesmerized_. Okay?"

Holly hugged him tightly. "Don't hurt yourself while I'm gone, please. I love you."

"Love you too," Foaly said, shooting Artemis a look and mouthing, Take care of her.

Artemis nodded stiffly.

The three of them left, and suddenly Holly was feeling a lot more awkward.

It was a long hallway anyway, but suddenly it felt like miles, and every turnoff was a hiding spot for Jasper. Every door was an ambush waiting to happen.

She could just see the main doors, way off, and watched with apprehension as they got slowly closer.

Artemis was interested in Holly's behavior. She looked at the ground, stuck her hands in her pockets, and rolled her shoulders forward. The classic "invisible" position. Her sleeves were rolled up, and he briefly glanced at her tightly muscled forearms, only to find his gaze stuck there.

On the inside of her right forearm, bold, black Gnommish letters ran in a straight line from a few inches above her wrist to almost her elbow. Artemis decoded it quickly, and smiled._Fidelis et fortis_, it read. _Loyal and strong_. Quite fitting, from what he knew of her.

On her left arm, there was another word-but the difference between the two was obvious. While her right arm held a tattoo, made with ink, what was inscribed on her left was a scar, carved viciously into her flesh. Probably left by an encounter with her tormentor. It read, simply, _"Mudblood_."

Mudblood, Artemis mused. The term used in Harry Potter for witches or wizards with non-magic blood in them. What might that mean in fairy culture?

_A person's a person, no matter how small_, thought Artemis suddenly.

And yet somehow, Holly had been ruthlessly pursued by violence and hate her whole life. Foaly had given them a what, who, when, where, how. But not a why. What could possibly drive Jasper McKinley to such lengths? If he was simply psychotic, he wouldn't be allowed into the LEP. There had to be some driving force behind his actions. Something about Holly.

_Mudblood_.

He studied her back intently, but nothing presented itself to him. And unfortunately, she felt his gaze and turned.

Even now, looking at her face, with it's indecipherable expression and soft blue eyes, he understood no more.

Wait. _Blue_. He could have sworn they had been brown. And indeed, as he watched, they faded from a sad blue to their normal honey-gold, shot through with spokes of green, grey, silver, blue, purple, red, and a myriad of other colors. He watched, fascinated, as she realized what he was staring at, blushed, and as she turned back away from him, her eyes flashed an embarrassed sort of silver.

Chameleon eyes, Artemis realized. They change according to her mood. Brown, with a smattering of the other shades, is normal, and whenever she strongly feels emotion they will change.

So blue was, possibly, sadness, and silver was embarrassed. It would likely do him good later on to remember which colors went with which feeling.

They reached the door (_Finally_, they all thought) and Holly pulled the fairy-sized double doors open. Artemis's head managed to pass under with an inch or so to spare, but his poor manservant had to stoop a good two feet under his full height and turn slightly sideways to fit through.

Artemis aimed his gaze everywhere at once, taking in the cavern, the strips of greenish lighting, the buildings packed together with inches to spare. He studied it fully-until Holly hit him in the stomach.

It was more of a push, to be fair. She had taken two steps out the door and instantly protected the most vulnerable element. Something was wrong.

When Butler noticed Holly's action, his hand grabbed at the butt of his Sig Sauer. "What is it, Captain?"

"I don't know yet," she murmured. "Wait." Holly took two tentative steps forward and just managed to make out the tiny fizzling noise that indicated what it was that had set off her soldier's sense. "Goblin. Fireball. Eight o'clock. No fast moves," she hissed at Butler.

The bodyguard got his charge to his side and slightly in front, away from the threat. He saw Holly's hand casually resting on her Neutrino. "Are you going to take care of it?"

He never got a reply. At that second, there was a sound like a pot boiling over, and the fairy spun on one heel, bringing her gun hand up, shooting almost before she could aim.

The fireball which the goblin had thrown exploded in mid-flight, turning into a fireworks display of sparks and spurts of combustive energy. The goblin himself-or herself, the humans couldn't tell, stepped forward.

Butler knew there was nothing he could do. His weapon was lethal, especially to a creature this tiny. But Holly wasn't making a move.

She read his mind. "If I shoot him, he'll fly backward," she said in a low tone. "If he flies backward, he falls over that ledge and down into the road. I need to get him over to our right, on the other side of the lot."

"He'll be too far away."

She didn't answer, but the manservant got the impression she was smiling.

The goblin spoke. "Shhhhhhort," he said. "I was ssssssssssssent to kill you."

"Sent by whom?"

"The Bwa'Kell do not wishhhhhhhh me to tell you that."

Impressively stupid, Artemis thought.

"They're still sending single men? I thought I got a little more respect."

"They sssssssssay it's ssssssssssuicide to fight you, and they don't want to waste more people. I've heard ssssssssstories about you, elf."

"I certainly hope they're all complimentary." As she spoke, Holly took a small, lazy step forward.

The goblin took a big, hasty step back. "They ssssssssay you beat a troll sssingle-handedly, above-ground and without magic."

"You could say we beat each other." Another step forward.

Artemis could see her plan. She would keep the conversation going smoothly, but take away her opponent's ground, putting him at a disadvantage. When she attacked, he would run instead of fighting.

The goblin raised a hand, clicking scaly fingers and catching the resulting spark in the palm of his hand, fanning it gently with his digits. Holly aimed at it and pulled her trigger in to the first click. Not wanting to be blown up, the frightened goblin quickly extinguished his missile.

Step. Step. Step. The fairy was almost against the wall. Step. Step. Thud. Trapped. The only way out was around the elf and Mud Men.

Holly squeezed off a shot. Unfortunately, it missed her opponent, hitting just beside his head. Artemis felt his heart drop slightly, then remembered that she _hadn't_missed-she was scaring the goblin off so she could shoot him somewhere safer.

The goblin ran faster than either Mud Man expected, sprinting low, zigzagging around vehicles, sticking close to the wall. Holly's couldn't shoot him until he broke away from the 14-inch high lip that ran around the parking lot.

Once the goblin finally did, Butler sighed. "He's at least a hundred yards off. We can't catch him," he muttered.

Holly turned, grinning up at him. "Says who?" Raising her arm almost lazily, she took one shot. As the male fairy vaulted clumsily out of the lot, he was hit square in the back, and collapsed with an 'oof' that wasn't heard by any of them, but was satisfying to know existed.

Captain Short pulled out a wafer-thin cell phone that looked centuries ahead of human technology. Hitting "2" on speed dial, she put it to her ear. "Trouble? We've got another. Front of the left side lot, just over the wall. Just a dumb assassin. I'm fine. _Really_. Swear to Zeus. Love you too." She stuck it in her hip pocket. "Let's see if we can make it to the Truck without dying."

"I didn't imagine it would be this difficult," Butler admitted.

Holly started walking, leading them to the right, around the side of the building.. "Get used to it. This life is crazy. Believe me, I've been doing it for almost 20 years. I didn't think it could get worse than Traffic, then I got promoted. And now the Bwa'Kell is going nuts..."

Around the corner, the parking lot stretched the length of several buildings, but it was clear what they were headed for. At the end of the line of smaller motorcycle spaces, a monstrous (to the fairies, anyway) vehicle dominated eight feet, lengthwise, almost ten high, and so many wide it barely fit in a lane of traffic.

"Behold the Truck," Holly muttered. "Scaring pixies out of a hundred year's life expectancy since possibly before the beginning of time."

Butler was admiring the motorcycles. "Impressive... emissions?"

"Ze-ro,"she declared. "Foaly's little side projects have done great things."

"I would think he'd stick to computers. What interested him in these?"

"Me, actually," Holly confessed, pointing further down the line. "I wanted a nuclear battery that would work in an engine, and he took it as a challenge."

Following her finger's direction, the manservant whistled as he spotted a gleaming bike, slimmer than anything humans had ever dreamed of, but clearly motor-powered. The paint job was pale silver, and superseding that was a black wing, beginning just behind the front wheel and spreading across the side, the tip resting behind the seat. Butler knew that if he looked at the other side of the motorcycle there would be a matching design. "Nice," he had to say.

"You like it?" Holly dropped her head back until she could see Butler, and Artemis noticed that her shining eyes were tinted purple. _Purple equals happiness. File and save_.

Butler nodded his affirmation. "Athena?"

"Because the idea for her sprang fully formed from my head."

The human raised his brows, looking back down. "You _built_that?"

"Oh...yeah. Wasn't _that_hard." They were walking past it, now, and Holly reached out and brushed her fingers over the back tire.

_One more facet of her personality, albeit one I had already guessed at_, Artemis thought.

"How fast does it go?" Butler looked back at the streamlined frame.

"Oh, I don't know. 400 miles per hour?"

He whistled. "That's _legal_?"

Holly squirmed. "...Define '_legal_.' I mean, you're not _supposed_ to, but _technically_, I can just say it was a necessary side affect of my pottering around in there, and if I never actually go that fast..." Holly paused and thought over her last sentence. "Or at least, if I never get _caught_going that fast... you see what I'm saying?"

Artemis smirked to himself.

"And hey, I can always flip out the badge and say I'm 'on official LEP business' and chuck around words like 'classified' and 'potential crisis' and I usually get left alone."

"Bit of a speed demon, then."

"...That's one of my nicknames," she admitted sheepishly.

They were just reaching the Truck. Holly tugged on the huge back doors as Artemis calculated how old this thing might actually be and Butler tried to figure out how safe it was. Not that he _mistrusted_Holly's skills. After the conversation they had just had, he was simply... cautious. Not nervous. Cautious.

The doors opened, revealing two large padded seats, complete with restraints. "Sorry about those," Holly said, flicking the chains as she went by. "And about the smell, too-we use this for captured trolls, so it's usually a lot worse. Or so I'm told."

"I can imagine," Butler winced.

Holly grinned back at him. "We use the security camera footage of that for training new recruits, you know."

The manservant groaned. "It wasn't one of my better moments."

"How do you think I felt? I got tangled in his fur then chucked into a wall. That's not even including the tapestry falling on me." Holly sat down and jammed a starter chip into the ignition. "Finally, we're actually going," she muttered.

The trio waited in silence for a moment, fully expecting something to interrupt the continuation of their journey.

Nothing happened.

Holly pulled out of the parking space, smoothly turning and heading out of the lot. Many of Butler's fears about her driving were soothed. Holly was in perfect control. Which, oddly enough, was actually a comforting thought.

They traveled down a slight hill-Artemis admired the strategic positioning of Police Plaza-and joined the main traffic going through Haven. Smaller cars seemed scared to come near them, so they were given a slight pocket of space, which, unfortunately, did not help them move any faster.

"I see fairies haven't managed to solve the traffic problem," Butler commented.

"Hey, there's not that much room down here, and it _was _kind of a hurried migration," she retorted. "I think we did pretty well, considering."

The buildings were tall, the highest reaching into the cavern ceiling. Color was everywhere, there was no plain gray concrete. Nor were buildings shaped to what human considered "normal" standards. Bright purple brick structures wrapped around green glass apartments, trying to take advantage of every inch of space the city had to offer. Anything seemed possible down under the earth, including the People-beings content to live out of their natural habitat for the sake of peace. And yet when he scanned the sidewalks, looking over the faces of each pixie, elf, sprite, gnome, Artemis saw no resentment, no spite, not even a distracted businessman who would not stop and apologize if he ran into someone. This, truly, was the culture that deserved the surface.

In fact, there was only one fairy in his entire range of vision that looked unhappy.

Artemis wanted to comment, ask questions, anything to learn more about this place, but he knew full well that if he made any contribution whatsoever to the fairly smooth-going conversation that was established between Holly and Butler, she would refuse to reply.

Holly had aimed her attention at the barely moving cars and the approaching (approaching like molasses) stop light. She quickly estimated their distance from it. "We're not gonna make that," she predicted under her breath.

Sure enough, when they reached the lights, they were stuck. The fact that they were at the very front of the line did nothing to improve Holly's mood. She hated this light. Hated it with all the hate she could muster. Hated it, hated it, ha-

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Cursing like a sailor, Holly fished a cell phone out of her pocket again. It was wafer-thin, blood-red, and to Artemis, looked extremely advanced, with a touchscreen and slide-out polymer keyboard.

Needless to say, the elf did not notice any of these things. All she noticed was the caller ID. With one last vehement "D'Arvit" she tapped "accept" and put it to her ear.

"Foaly," she growled. "If this is not the most important thing you have _ever _called me about, I will kick your hairy ass from here to Saint Patrick's Day, I swear as Ares is my _freaking _witness."

"Not doing so good, huh?"

"Not doing so _well_, if that's what you mean."

Artemis couldn't hear what the donkey-er, centaur-had said, but he could guess, and he internally applauded Holly's attention to grammar.

"You have got to be kidding," he heard her say flatly. "No, I murdered them and dumped their bodies in the river, of course. What kind of person do you think I am? _Don't _answer that." She hit speaker and reached back over the seat. "Say something to prove I didn't kill you, please."

"Still alive," Artemis and Butler said in flat unison.

"It's possible," issued Foaly's voice from the amazingly good speakers, "That Holly recorded that and played it back... so say... um..."

"Paranoia is not an attractive quality, Foaly," Holly informed him.

"I thought you liked my tinfoil hats!"

"I do. I meant attractive to potential mates."

"Oh, you're one to talk. What does Cupid say about your dating history?"

Holly tossed her head snootily. "He says I'll get married at ninety-three to the love of my life, someone who is extremely tall, dark, and he isn't handsome now but he will be then. He also says I'm going to miss your wedding. Maybe I'll die."

Her swift change of subject understandably rattled the centaur. "You will not! Don't even say that." He paused. "Tall, dark, handsome? I think he was kidding."

"He didn't sound like he was kidding. Usually when he's kidding you can tell."

"I think he was kidding. You're never going to get married, and you're going to die of old age with your dog beside you."

Holly hung up. There was an artificial _click_.

A moment passed. Then _beep beep beep_ filled the silence.

"Yes?" Holly asked sweetly, answering.

"Did you just hang up on me?!"

"I don't know, did it sound a bit like this?" _Click_.

Holly managed to contain a giggle.

Then, from behind her: "_Cupid_?"

_Oh, right. I have two humans in the backseat. Great._

"Yes," she replied wearily to Butler. "What the Mud Men think of as 'gods'"-she made quotation marks in the air-"are actually elfin warlocks, obscenely old, though they age so slowly that most of them look younger than me."

Artemis had to butt in. "So why did the humans apply specific characteristics to them? Apollo and music, and so on?"

_Why not, if I'm going to hell anyway? It won't make any difference if they know a bit more._ "They were warlocks; they had specific skills. Aphrodite can manipulate feelings, a heightened form of the _mesmer_, I believe, though as you can imagine we aren't very close; Apollo can affect weather, though very localized and not for very long, and manipulate sound, hence 'god of music'; Cupid can see emotional connections, and potential emotional connections, between people. Zeus manipulates electricity; Hera was just a regular elf; Poseidon can 'talk' to water, get it to do things it wouldn't normally. Once he changed the entire tide flow just to put off human surfers and confuse the scientists. Though... I may or may not have given him the idea. Ares... is immensely strong. Like, lift-a-house-with-one-hand strong. Athena is as smart as Foaly, and almost as irritating, if you can imagine. All of them have the extremely irritating ability to teleport... which has caused some awkward situations." Holly thought back to her first date. Cupid had materialized in the booth right next to her, and had proceeded to give her date the father talk. Holly had been single for a while after that.

"And you know them?"

"Yes." Her voice said, _Don't question further if you like life._

The young genius had to ask. "What about Artemis?"

"What about her? She's a pain in the ass, that's all you need to know. Even if she is a... mildly helpful pain in the ass."

"Mildly helpful?"

"She can see. Anything. Anywhere. In the dark, in a hole, on the other side of the universe. The only thing she can't see is back or forward in time. She hunts; but she doesn't kill the animals, she just grabs them then lets them go. And the virgin thing?" Holly turned around, looked him square in the eyes, and said, "So. Not. True."

"What gave the humans that idea?"

Holly turned back around, "She gives off an aura of purity. Until she opens her mouth."

"Why are they associated with Mount Olympus?"

"That's where they liked to practice."

"What about Psyche?"

Holly was taken by a violent coughing fit. When she recovered, she opened her mouth to snap a reply-

_Beep beep beep._

She dropped her phone in the tray between the two front seats and hit "Accept."

"Holly?" This was not Foaly's voice. It was lower; more husky.

"Trouble," she replied.

"Quick question. Team Edward or Team Jacob?"

"Team Snape," she replied immediately. "Why-"

"Thanks!"_ Click_.

She looked at the phone in utter disbelief for a few seconds, then hit "mute" and whacked her head against the steering wheel a few times. "Why? Why do guys _do_ that?"

"The light's about to change," Butler noted as impassively as he could. "Oh, and good answer."

"Thank you. I once went to a library and hid all the Twilight books in the horror section."

"You mean they weren't there already?"

Snorting once, Holly stepped on the pedal. "They sure as hell should have been."

Artemis nodded appreciatively. Holly had good taste.

After that one (long) light, Holly turned off the main roads, heading toward E7. This shuttleport was actually the only thing this road led to, and once the port had been shut down, the streets had fallen into disrepair. She managed to avoid most of the potholes. Most.

The humans briefly considered asking how long it would take to get there, then reconsidered. Another mood swing from Holly right now wasn't what they needed.

"I'm apologizing in advance for that tunnel," Holly said as they strode through the dust, nooding at the low passageway into the shuttle dock.

"I expected more tech," the bodyguard admitted as he scanned the small, closed-in cave.

"We literally stripped everything out of this place," she said. "We left the tech in there"-she waved a hand at the doorway to the tunnel-"in case the humans ever depopulate Paris and we can start running this port again."

He examined a dark brown-reddish patch on the ground. "Is that what I think it is?"

"I had an... interesting time this morning. It's not my blood, but it was fairly jarring all the same."

"Goblins again?"

"No, fluffy bunnies with water pistols," she replied, but her tone wasn't harsh.

When they reached it, Butler took a moment to find a comfortable way to walk through the small passageway, realized there were none, and settled for bow-squat-walking behind his charge. He thanked God that it was a short hallway.

The large circular door split into segments and slid back to receive them. When they entered the actual docking area, Butler gave a low whistle. Burns spotted the walls, from flares and lasers, and the floor was still puddled with cooler-enhanced water. The split water tanks Were jarringly obvious, and the patchwork shuttle only served to complete the image.

"What exactly happened to you?" Butler asked, surveying the scene.

"Well," Holly said sheepishly, "I _may _have simultaneously fried," she gestured to the chute, indicating a flare, "drowned," she pointed to the black water tank, "and frozen myself."

"I don't envy your job."

"And I don't envy yours." She shot him a devilish smirk, and Butler had to glance at Artemis, wondering about his reaction to the slight. Artemis was repeatedly scanning the unaware elf as though she was the most challenging puzzle he had ever worked. Now that Butler thought of it, she probably was.

Holly walked purposefully to the malformed shuttle, pushing open the hood and hopping up on the edge, balancing easily on only her toes, to check the engine. "Seems okay," she said doubtfully. She gestured at the wing door. "Get on in."

Whew... What was that? Was that monstrosity a chapter? I'm sorry. I know the last couple chapters/stories I've put out haven't been all that great. But in two or three chapters this story will actually get good. And the next 12 Days of Valentines story is better than the last one. Thanks so much, you guys, for not abandoning me. It means a lot that people review-an guess what? Reviewing will make me update faster. I swear. And so will songs-if you enjoy typing to a particular tune, tell me! I listen to anything from Kesha to Disney, so don't hesitate.


	5. Chapter 5

Wow, autocorrect just told me that my name isn't a word. I'm just trying to sign an email, here, Steve Jobs! No need to be nasty!

It was a small movement. But then, Artemis's eyes were, by now, attuned to every twitch she made. He read her body language with far less than his usual competence, but this tiny mannerism was easy to spot the importance of.

As Butler opened the door and left the shuttle dock, stepping out into downtown Paris, Holly leaned forward in her seat, looking beyond Artemis and reveling in the sunlight pouring onto her face. She closed her eyes, letting the warmth illuminate her skin with gold and, oddly, silver in the shadows, taking the stress, even the pain that her human companion had not previously seen, until her visage was the image of serenity, sweet and calm, perfect and tranquil.

Artemis swallowed. This is what I have to recreate? he thought. This inhuman being, embodiment of mischievous happiness? This is going to be a challenge. Even for me.

Then Butler closed the door, the light was gone, the haunted, tortured look returned to Holly's countenance, all the more terrible because now he had something to compare it to. Holly leaned back in her seat, and he realized that the entire episode had lasted half a second, at the most.

Artemis felt like screaming.

"Good job as usual, old friend," Artemis commented without thinking as Butler clambered back into the shuttle.

Holly looked over incredulously. Old friend?

"Thank you, Artemis," he replied.

The elf looked at the controls, frowning, trying to remember some other indication that Artemis and Butler had anything more than a professional relationship. Nothing came to mind. But the bodyguard had acted as though that was a normal term of endearment... So was Artemis emotionally attached to him, after all? Did Artemis _have_ emotions?

_Of course he does,_ piped up a previously undiscovered voice in her head. _He's doing this to save his father_.

_He kidnapped me for gold_, she replied drily.

_But what did he want the gold for? How do you know that wasn't for his father too?_

Her mouth actually dropped open slightly at this thought as she scrabbled furiously for a retort. _No. Impossible_.

She realized that the two humans were looking at her curiously. "Are you all right?" Artemis inquired mildly.

In a situation like that, there's only one response you can make. Holly looked Artemis Fowl square in the eye and said, "You're weird, you know that?"

There was a silence, punctured only by a snort from Butler, half-muffled in his sleeve. Artemis shot him a look, and was answered with a shrug that said, What do you want me to do? I protect your body, not your dignity.

Smirking in petty triumph, Holly slid the shuttle smoothly out of the dock and began the descent back to Haven. The silence was impressively more comfortable than it had been on the journey upward.

Unfortunately, disaster cannot avoid Holly Short for very long, and has a bad habit of shattering comfortable silences. Halfway down the chute, there was a rumble and the walls shuddered. "D'Arvit," Holly whispered. "Buckle up, boys, we're gonna be getting some rubble here in a second."

Eyes widening, Artemis reached for the extra harness straps hanging around him.

Not fast enough.

A huge piece of rock, preempted only by the graphic image of surrounding chute to Holly's left, fell through the area of space where they had just been. They were not there, due to the fact that the elfin captain had twisted her joysticks in opposite directions, spinning them forcefully away. And the human boy was only secured by one buckle in the center of his chest.

Holly was no idiot. She had two options, she knew that before she'd made the lifesaving move. She could let the Mud Boy's ribs be crushed, and serve him right, or she could do the right thing. She barely even thought about the decision, and in later days, she never even came close to regretting it.

As she swirled them out of the way, she had grabbed the controls in one hand, reaching out with the other and gripping the human's shoulder firmly in the other, holding him steady through the jolt.

When the danger was past, they slowly turned to look at each other. Holly's fingertips were pressing hard into his arm, but he didn't care. Artemis was far too close, but she couldn't quite bring herself to mind.

Butler knew a 'moment' when he saw one. He would have been amused, but there could be more big rocks crashing down on them right this moment. So, regretfully, he cleared his throat.

The two turned to him as though moving through molasses. Holly's face said 'what just hit me?' while his charge's read 'what the hell are you playing at, Butler?'

All it took was one knowing smirk from the manservant to snap them out of it, Holly returning to the joysticks, and Artemis buckling his harness.

Holly glanced at him for the umpteenth time. She felt like he had been watching her surreptitiously for a while, and she wasn't sure what to make of it. And when she had been looking into his eyes, he wasn't studying her mangled face or broken-one-time-too-many nose. Sappily enough, she felt like he had pierced her to the soul-which was terrifying. And, if she was completely honest with herself, exhilarating.

She decided not to be completely honest with herself.

Artemis looked at the fairy to find her eyeing him in return. As she snapped her gaze away, the color in her eyes rippled, and for the barest moment, turned green.

Green?

Aaaaaaaand that's a wrap! Who can guess what green is?

In the next chapter, I will bring in an original character who has been mentioned in this fic once before… any guesses there?


	6. Chapter 6

IMPORTANT STUFF: as you all may have guessed, this fic is going to continue through all the AF books. The ending is already planned, so don't try to change my mind on that, but if you want to suggest a scene in one of the books, feel free.

Also, some of you A/H lovers may get a bit jittery during this chapter: I am expecting reactions like "Wait-isn't this A/H?! I thought you were a Hartemis shipper!" I have two responses. One-yes, this is AH. But a little bit of jealousy is healthy, and Artemis has been long overdue. And two-the term Hartemis is utterly ridiculous. As is Artolly. Please, don't.

WARNING: the second part of this chapter is a bit iffy on the T rating. It's just implications, but still, I don't want flames. You have been warned.

The ride back to Police Plaza seemed ridiculously short in comparison to the trip to the shuttleport, partly due to the much kinder atmosphere and partly due to the fact that they didn't get stopped at the ridiculously long traffic light. Butler and Holly chatted amiably about unimportant things like a fairy's diet versus a human's and LEP training and field experience and new recruits (they both rolled their eyes as soon as the subject was broached). Artemis interjected a few comments when he felt Holly could take it.

It was odd for him, this new self-control. Knowing that one's actions could so fully affect someone's life, and indeed, sanity, made him watch himself in a way he never had before. He analyzed every word of every sentence he uttered from every possible angle, searching for possible insult, animosity, or carelessness. When he treated Holly as a challenge, a puzzle to be completed, it was much easier to stomach his new weakness for her. Not that he ever forgot that she was a person. A person with a killer punch.

**(A/N: Am I getting mushy? Don't worry. It's about to get HOT.)**

As they pulled into the lot, Holly's phone _beep beep beep_ed. "Hey, buddy," she said, shoving it up to her ear. "How are we gonna do this? I've got a couple of humans that I need to get to gods know where in there. Chances are, Root's picked out the most remote and idiotically 'safe'"-she made air quotes-"conference room in the entire building. Am I right?…you're kidding. In the basement? I've had enough of the basement." Trailing her fingers over her disfigured cheek, she sighed. "What room? How the hell do you not know yet? You're supposed to know everything, Foaly… fine. It'll take time to just get to the stairs, after all. But I had better know by then. See you soon." She clicked it off.

"How are we being concealed?" Artemis asked, infinitely curious.

"Butler, you're going to hate my guts, but I'm putting you two under cam foil."

**(A/N: look at me, introducing cam foil before the books do! I'm so badass!)**

"Before you ask, it's a thin sheet of crystals that, when wrapped around something, will project it's surroundings from one side to the other, concealing whatever's inside the cylinder. We're between LEP shift changes right now, so you shouldn't have too much trouble, but make sure no one runs into you."

Butler nodded, somehow not feeling strange taking orders from someone less than half his height.

She drew a small square of material from her belt, unfolding it until it was large enough to hide even the mammoth human, and passed it to her companions in the backseat. Then she slid out the driver's door, going around to the back.

Artemis instantly took advantage of the lack of another presence, asking his bodyguard, "What do you think?"

"She's not incurable, and-" was as far as Butler got before the elf in question was tugging open the rear doors. Going first and pulling the cam foil around himself and his charge as they exited, Butler finally managed to stand up straight.

"Enjoy it while you can, Big Man," Holly said grimly. "You're going to be bending over for a while."

He sighed.

When they got inside, there was peace and silence. None of them got hopeful. Holly informed them that they had to walk for a while before they reached the back of the building, where the stairs to the basement were located. "But after that," she added, "you can take the foil off-no one goes down there unless they're called down or they're beating up helpless females."

"You're hardly helpless," Butler pointed out with a sympathetic wince.

She did not reply.

Then it was one long hallway, continuing uninterrupted until Holly began to wish for something to break the monotony. Conversation had long since died.

For once, her wish was granted. A gangly tangle of limbs rounded the corner up ahead, making a quick beeline for the elf.

"Grub?" Holly asked. "You okay?"

Suddenly, Butler realized just how small Holly really was. When he had been fighting the Retrieval squad last year, this elf had been easily the littlest, but he dwarfed (no pun intended) the girl. And that wasn't the only difference.

Kelp's eyes were more slanted. His skull structure was more alien, cheekbones jutting, head slanting a bit inward. Holly looked altogether more normal.

Putting it out of his mind, Butler made another connection. Kelp. This little guy's name was Kelp. So he had intentionally terrified Holly's best friend's little brother.

Small world.

Corporal Kelp was oblivious to the two humans in his close vicinity. "Foaly wanted me to tell you-room 207. I don't know what that means, but I'm sure you will. And Trubs says hi."

She cocked her head. "Why were you running?"

He jabbed a thumb over one shoulder. "Scary-looking one a couple corridors back. One of the new guys."

"He was that frightening?" she asked skeptically.

Grub nodded enthusiastically. "Yup. Definitely part-human, by the look of him. Pale skin, dark hair, blue eyes, whole kit. Genetics didn't like him, Frond knows. And the most smarter-then-thou expression… I felt like he could see through me. His eyes were like ice."

Holly had been feeling increasingly peculiar ever since the other elf had begun his description. A fuzzy, tingling feeling was rising up from her gut while her face felt like it had been microwaved. "Was there anything…else…weird that you noticed?"

"No…"

Her face fell.

"Wait, yes!" Kelp said, snapping his fingers. "He was wearing a hat. Indoors. Just struck me as odd-Holly, are you okay?"

Her hands were trembling violently, so she shoved them into her pockets, but she knew there was no disguising the elated expression on her face, or how pale she was. "Yeah," she choked. "I'm _great_. But, you know, we-I-I'm going in that direction, so if you want to avoid him," she gestured weakly.

"Yeah, I'm going. Are you sure you're fine?"

"Hell yes," she whispered.

He gave her an odd look, but shrugged it off and walked away, having long since accepted that his brother's best friend was an abnormal elf.

Holly watched him go, then turned and speed-walked down he hallway. Not sure what to make of this, the humans exchanged looks and, shrugging, followed.

Around the corner, there _were_ two elves-but neither fit Kelp's description, though they had the same slanted eyes and other odd differences from Holly. Her ears drooped as she stared at the ground and tried to look small. One of the elves spotted her, pointed, and said something to his friend, who laughed nastily.

"Hey, Short, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" one called when they came into earshot. "It sure looks like it did-you clearly landed on your face…"

Holly's ears drooped further, and she bent her head.

The other sneered in reply, "What are you talking about? Her face is like the sun." They were passing, and the first bumped purposefully into her, sending her crashing into the wall. She didn't protest, prompting elf number two to finish his jibe. "It burns my retinas when I look directly at it!"

Their laughter echoed back, reverberating off her trembling shoulders.

Artemis stared at her back. She was a strong individual. Why wasn't she turning around and delivering a smart comeback?

There is only so much, he realized, that someone can take before they give up resisting altogether. Perhaps taking it lying down is just easier.

But what inspires someone to be so unkind? To bend to such petty insults, to make someone feel awful?

Two more fairies entered their stretch of hallway. One was a male pixie. The other fit Grub Kelp's description to a T. But this wasn't what caught Artemis's attention.

He was looking at himself.

Not himself, precisely. An older, smaller version. As though someone had taken a snapshot of him at twenty and shifted some aspects.

The elf was wearing a white silk (or something like silk) button-down shirt and black pants, with a black cap over medium-length, dark locks. His jaw was squarer than Artemis's, his nose was slimmer, his skin was a vaguely darker shade and behind rectangular black glasses, his eyes were an icy blue in comparison to Artemis's bright color. But his bearing…

He held himself straight upright, head high, disdainful expression on his countenance as he listened to what his companion was saying. Then he began to speak, and the human strained to hear.

"Absolutely preposterous," he intoned, clearly thoroughly disgusted. "There is no possible way that could ever work. The atoms would degenerate and spiral out of control before we could even get close to completion."

"No need to be nasty," the pixie replied. "Gods, what is your problem? I'm trying to finish the experiment, you can stop dragging it down!"

The elf spun on him. "I believe," he spat coldly, "that I am helping, not hurting, by keeping you from completely destroying weeks of work."

Utterly cowed, the pixie stammered for a moment, then strode through a doorway and disappeared.

The elf turned to one of the lockers lining the left wall and tapped in a code, shuffling around inside.

To the human's amazement, Holly spoke up. "You don't have to do that to everybody, you know. Scare them like that, I mean."

He showed no signs of having heard, instead pulling out a black fake leather bag and checking inside it.

She snorted. "Come on. Look, I'm sorry, okay? I should have called, or done something, I know. But I was scared, all right? I thought it wouldn't be the same, or something. But even with that, I think I deserve a little more than total silence."

The man stilled, one hand going to the locker door and grasping it as if for support. "What the _hell_," he said, still facing away from her, "happened to your _face_?"

Holly faltered, coming to a stop just behind him. "Oh. It was Jasper, we… it got a little out of hand."

He broke away from the wall, walking purposefully away. "I'm going to kill him," he said simply.

"No, no, no you're not," Holly objected, grabbing the still-unnamed fairy's arm and dragging him backward. "One, because you're too scrawny, he would destroy you; two, because you still haven't said hello."

Reining himself in, he turned, making eye contact with her for the first time in almost three years.

Holly's knees went a little weak.

"Hello, Holly," he said pleasantly. "It's nice to see you again. If you don't mind, I'd like to go murder a certain psycho anti-human sprite in cold blood. Do excuse me."

She blinked. Then sniffed.

All thoughts of Jasper flew from his mind instantly. "Are you okay?"

In response, she flung herself into his arms.

Artemis and Butler frowned, for different reasons. Butler, because he was confused. Artemis, on the other hand, had long since formulated a fairly good idea of who this elf was, and he was unsure why he was irritated.

"Oh," the elf said, swallowing. Composing himself, he buried his face in her heir and stroked her back. "I'm here, Pippin," he murmured.

Probably a pet name, Artemis thought bitterly.

"I know," Holly said, breaking away but still holding two handfuls of his shirt. "I just… gods."

"How very eloquent."

"If you have something better to say…"

"I still don't have a place to stay tonight."

She pulled away, turning on one heel. "Nope."

"Please?"

"Imagine that, you saying please."

He waited.

"The answer's still no."

"Is there nothing I can do?"

"Weeeeeeeelllllllllllll," Holly hedged.

"Yes?"

"Okay," she said, steeping her fingers and pointing them at him. "You know that I have nightmares."

He nodded.

"So… if I take you in tonight, you have to absolutely one hundred percent promise me… that I won't get a wink of sleep tonight."

They looked at each other for a moment. Then a positively vampiric grin broke out on his face. "Deal," he said, holding out a hand.

The moment Holly's skin came in contact with his, sparks exploded out from both their fingers, spiraling around the contact.

They blushed, simultaneously looking away. "Well, at least we know that hasn't changed," he muttered.

Holly started to laugh.

"What?" he asked, affronted.

"The expression on your face," she snickered. "You looked so dumb."

He frowned at her.

"You should know, there is nothing on earth funnier than a dignified person acting undignified."

Apparently deciding to test this theory, he looked at her for a moment, then made a face.

Holly broke down completely. She hadn't seen this elf in three years of tortuous bullying; she had recently discovered that her worst enemy wasn't really so bad; she had just seen sunlight, and she was probably going to get laid. She was entirely ready to laugh.

So she did. Burying her head in his shoulder, she laughed till she cried, feeling her hell dissipating slightly. As long as he was here, she was safe.

As her chuckles slowly petered off, he looked down at her, clearly quite pleased with himself. "Is it really that funny?"

"Nah," she replied, stretching and tucking herself into the crook of his arm, matching his long strides. "Stress release."

"You on a mission?"

"Yeah. Classified, before you ask."

"I see."

"So," she teased, nudging his hip with hers, "how's the IQ?"

He dropped his head back and groaned. "Must you?"

"Gotten that one little point yet?"

"Holly!"

"Just one more point, and you'll officially be a genius…"

He scowled. "If I ever do gain another point, you'll be miserable; you won't be able to make fun of me for it anymore."

She let it go. "You're still wearing the hat. They haven't gotten any pointier?"

Uncurling his arm from around her, he did a quick check of the hallway in both directions, then peeled off his cap.

Instead of long tips like Holly's, his ears barely tapered to a point at the ends. Genetics had, indeed, disliked this elf.

"It's so unfair," Holly murmured. "I deserve it way more than you do."

He smiled grimly. "No one deserves this. You go through enough because of your human blood, no need to add to it."

Too late. Too late to stop those words from spilling from his lips, from falling onto Artemis and Butler's ears. Of course, they would realize now why she had so many scars, why she was so abused. Holly closed her eyes, feeling her secrets slowly slip away from her.

Artemis gaped at her back as it sank in. Her eyes, bone structure, the subtle differences. Holly was part human. It made so much sense, he was ashamed of not figuring it out earlier-but at the same time, he was glad he hadn't.

Artemis felt a rush of affection for Holly, born from a new similarity between them.

"Ah, whatever," she said lightly. "Do you have another hat?"

Looking a bit confused, he pulled a hat identical to the one he was wearing out of his bag. Holly grabbed it and pulled it on. "As long as you're wearing one, I'll wear one too."

He rolled his eyes. "Your sentimentality both attracts and disgusts me."

"I love you too."

"If we were human-fully human-and I got cancer, and had to have chemotherapy, and all my hair fell out, would you shave your head?"

"Yup."

He sighed. "The thing is, I entirely believe that."

"You really freaked out Grub Kelp, you know. What did you do?"

"I looked at him," he admitted, replacing his hat.

"Petrifying. Would it kill you to smile at someone other than me?"

"Being 'nice' would destroy my reputation as surely as wearing a skirt to work would ruin yours."

"You don't have to be _nice_. I'd settle for _not evil_."

"But you like me that way," he said flippantly.

"Riley..."

_Whoops. There's another slip of the tongue. Pretty soon Fowl is going to be the world's leading expert on me. _

Butler's eyebrows were located somewhere around the surface. He already felt almost as protective of this girl as Artemis did, despite his best efforts to remain unattached. And he was now fairly hopeful as to the chances of Holly's cure-if Artemis watched his mouth, it was almost probable.

Riley trailed his fingers down her face, and Holly moaned quietly as the pain vanished, his blood-red sparks cleaning and healing her wound. "Thanks," she whispered.

"Good as new. Ish."

"Only ish?"

"New, technically, would mean just born."

"Oh."

"What would… never mind."

"What?"

"Well, I was going to ask what you would think about plastic surgery-for my ears, you know. But I suppose you don't support that."

"Honestly, I don't see why you would."

"What?"

"I mean, think about it. You are what you are. Plastic surgery just won't change your DNA. So even if you look completely elfin, you'd still be part human. With me so far? Okay. So people in general wouldn't look twice at you except for your dazzling good looks. But if you wanted to get into a relationship of trust with anyone, you'd still have to tell them. Right? You remember when you first asked me out. If you had gotten surgery and looked regular, you would have had to actually say, 'oh, by the way, I'm part-human. Are you sure you still want to go out?' And I wouldn't want to go out-not because you were part-human, but because you were faking it."

Holly felt the weight of three dumb stares on her. "What?"

"Sometimes," Riley muttered, shaking his head, "you really make me feel that IQ point. That was possibly the wisest thing I have ever heard out of your mouth."

She smiled.

He rummaged in his bag for a moment and pulled out a bar of dark chocolate, handing it to her. "Where are you headed?"

"Basement," she said through a mouthful of heaven.

"We'll have to split up here, then."

"Oh."

Suddenly, the corner seemed far too close.

"How long till you go back to Atlantis?"

"Twelve months. Hopefully I can do a little good before then, most of the pixies in the chemistry sector are complete morons."

"We're good at chemistry," she said, winking.

He sighed. "Unfortunately, not the kind they need."

"Have you met Foaly?"

"Yes," he confessed.

"And…?"

"I like him. We talked for a while."

"About?"

"Things."

"And in no way, shape, or form was I one of these things, _right_?"

"Ab-solutely," he exclaimed far too cheerfully.

"_What_ did he say about me?"

"Nothing at all."

"I can kill you in three motions."

"In that case, he might have said something."

"Do I _want_ to know?"

He fixed her with a smirk. "I'm 'dominant,' am I?"

It took her a moment to gather up her jaw. "He did _not_! I'm going to kill that donkey!" she tried to escape, but was caught by two arms wrapping around her waist. Riley reeled her back in, chuckling. "No, leave him be. I asked."

"Fine. I'll kill you," she compromised, trying to turn around in his arms.

"If you kill me, I can't keep you up all night, now can I?"

Holly slumped. "You fight dirty."

"Exactly. And now, because all good things must come to an end…"

"Nooooo, not fair. You can't leave."

"We have twelve months, Holly," he reminded her gently.

She let him go, but just as he was turning away, Riley reached back and grabbed her sleeve. "Oh, there was one more thing I wanted to say.…"

"Yes?"

He yanked her arm, spinning her expertly into his arms and bringing their lips crashing together.

Artemis felt his fingers involuntarily curl into fists, a tidal wave of irrational anger sweeping through him. Fixing Holly was _his_ job. He wasn't about to let some mini-me with glasses butt in.

_You could use some help_, his intelligent side said.

_No, I need to do this alone,_ his angry side said.

_I just want to _help_ her_, his compassionate side intruded.

_Green_! interjected his inquisitive half.

Coming out of the internal battle, Artemis studied Holly's eyes. She had pulled away, and was staring at her (ex?)boyfriend dazedly, her eyes bright emerald. Suddenly, Artemis found himself grinning. This was still his game. He had induced the exact same color from two seconds of staring into her eyes at close quarters. He could do this.

His smile widened when she punched him. But she was laughing a bit, which somewhat negated the halfhearted blow.

That was okay. He could work with that.

Da da da DUMMMMMM.

Congrats to all of you that guessed Riley!

Next chapter: blood, Trouble, Jasper, and how _exactly_ Holly knows the Greek gods…


	7. Chapter 7

Well, I was recently thinking "Wow, I haven't gotten any negative reviews of this story," and apparently I jinxed it. I got a guest review from someone who calls themselves "er," saying:

The parts about 'slanted eyes' and 'normality' - I would delete those. Getting very close, if not reaching, something highly offensive. You need to be more careful. It's the 21st century ffs, I shouldn't be having to point this out to you.

I'm not being racist, folks. I'm trying to show the difference between full-blood elves and part-human elves, and the only way I could think of to do that was bone structure/eye shape. She looked "normal" to Arty because a) she was more humanoid and b) she was the only elf he had seen so far, prompting him to naturally think that the way she looked was the norm. Anyone who has read the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon) knows that elves in that were the same way-but you'll notice that nobody kicked up a fuss.

Anyway, this chapter is slightly (read: MUCH) darker. So mentally prepare yourself.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Holly more floated than walked the last fifteen feet to the staircase, unaware of the consternation and anger she was causing the young human behind her. No one tried to make conversation, feeling like it would be too awkward to be worth it.

When one thinks "rarely used basement," the cliche mental image is that of cracked concrete and cobwebs. Not so here. A simple metal handrail ran down ten steps to a small landing, where it turned right and continued ten more steps. The steps were hard, white and, for the most part, clean. But only mostly. There was a small brown patch on the fourth step down.

Suddenly, Holly's earlier words came, unbidden, into Artemis's mind. _You should try being thrown down two flights of stairs sometime. _

Feeling sick, he looked at the landing a little more closely. There was another vague reddish stain, as though…

He didn't think about it.

Holly rubbed the back of her head, silently reliving the fight.

It got worse, of course. They turned the landing to find someone already at the bottom of the stairs.

It was Trouble Kelp. **(A/N: I scared you into thinking it was Jasper, didn't I? Ha ha.)** He was facing them, but staring back behind the staircase. His eyes were wide an his face was pale, reflecting his inner horror. "Holly," he whispered, tearing his gaze away from whatever gruesome spectacle had so fully captivated his attention to look at her.

"What?" she asked, unsure. Yes, he was looking at the place where her face had been half-demolished, but he'd seen blood before…

She hopped over the railing, turning and landing next to her friend. She opened her mouth to ask again what was wrong-and froze.

"Tell me that at least some of that is red paint," the older elf murmured.

She slowly shook her head. "I didn't realize there was that much. But… I guess it's all mine… I must have been delirious or something, I guess. Ew," she finished, rather high-pitched.

"That is…" he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Sick."

Butler and Artemis pulled off their cam-foil, refolding it gently as they descended the rest of the way. Butler reached the bottom first, took one look at what the elves were staring at, and turned his principal's head away.

"Butler," Artemis protested. "Release me, please. I am old enough to see this, whatever it is."

Shrugging, Butler let him go. The boy would learn; there are some things even adults don't want to have to see.

Artemis looked. And fought his gag reflex.

When he had imagined Jasper dragging Holly's face across the wall, not that he had for very long, he had visualized a slightly rough patch of concrete, and the sprite pulling her head across it once. It was clearly not so.

Multiple long streaks of blood were jarringly clear against a jagged vertical landscape. The concrete had fallen out in chunks, leaving daggers jutting outward. Most still glittered with blood. How much had there been originally, if it was still wet now?

Trails of it dribbled downward, collecting into a pool at the floor.

It was thick and dark, life spilled for a petty grudge.

It was a waste, and worse, it had been turned into a threat. Someone-and Artemis had a fairly shrewd idea who-had dipped his fingers in it and wrote on the floor, in front of the mini-massacre, _Mudblood_.

Holly spat on the word. "He hasn't killed me yet, he won't anytime soon," she said with more conviction than she felt. "At least _I_ have friends."

Trouble tried to gauge her mood. "How are you feeling?"

Cracking her knuckles, she replied, "Good enough to beat you to Foaly."

They eyed each other for a second, then at some invisible signal, sprinted down the hallway like the Devil was at their heels. The humans followed at a saner pace.

"Horrific," Butler muttered. "Imagine what she goes through on a daily basis; and how hard it would be to stay, well," he gestured to her as if to say, _Look at how strong she still is_.

Artemis knew better. As the four of them had stood there, eyes locked on the wall, he had been the only one in a position to see Holly's face. Trouble and Butler had been too far back. And when she thought she was safe, and no one could see, her countenance hadn't been one of endurance. She had looked desperate. Terrified. And her eyes were those of a caged animal, starving and waiting for its master to return with a whip.

Up ahead, Foaly stuck his head out of the conference room door, and when he saw the racing elves, his body followed. "I had better not be the finish line of this-"

Too late. With cries of delight, Holly and Trouble lept onto him, yelling "I win!" at the exact same time.

_She's the epitome of good acting,_ Artemis admitted. A_s good as me at hiding her true feelings. _

Foaly and Trouble walked in, but Holly hung back, her smile melting away as they left her behind. Holding the door open for her human companions, she glanced up and made eye contact with Artemis.

_This is it,_ he decided. _She needs to know that I'm doing_. So for possibly the first time in his life, Artemis Fowl tried to summon emotion. He left out his jealousy for Riley, whose job was easy; his respect for Foaly, who cared about her enough to ask her worst enemy for help; his affection and admiration and even his concern for her. All he tried to muster was his determination to make her life bearable. He put all that behind his eyes and projected it to her as hard as he could.

It worked a little too well, actually. Forgetting to breathe, Holly clutched the door handle until her knuckles turned white as she received the mental message he was throwing at her. _Damn. He's forceful_, she thought, as his emotion crashed over her head. _Woah... Is this really him? Does he really want this?_

_Yep. Yes, he does. _

They stared at each other, and Holly's eyes turned green at him for the second time that day.

Artemis smirked.

She tried to scowl back, but somehow ended up mirroring his expression. And he saw a spark flicker to life behind her eyes.

He wanted to jump up and punch the air, but instead settled for smiling and taking the door. Baby steps.

After Holly was inside, Butler turned to Artemis, frowning, and said, "What did I just miss?"

0o0o0o0o0

"We'll be going out the front doors this time," Root finished. "Holly, you'll drive us to the Murmansk port, I've secured the Atlantean ambassador's shuttle."

The elf let out a little whimper, dropping her head to the table. "Those things are impossible to fly."

"Any questions?" He ignored her.

There were no questions, so they left. Root professionally ignored the bloody mess behind the stairs, though Artemis couldn't tear his eyes away; he supposed it was a kind of subconscious penance.

Again, disaster lurked just around the third turn. Holly was perfecting her invisible posture when up ahead, the commander said, "Captain McKinley."

Three heads snapped up. A pale green sprite regarded them coolly in return. "Commander," he replied, saluting. "What's going on here?"

Artemis and Butler were doing their best 'mesmerized' faces, but they were visible. The cam-foil had not been reused.

"Just wiping them and sending them back topside. We had to interrogate them."

"Ah, because of the goblin attack. I see. Thank you."

Root nodded, and they walked past each other. Which meant that now Holly was face-to-face with him. Cold tawny eyes bored into hers, blonde hair swept away from a merciless face. "You wouldn't," she hissed. "Not with Root right there."

"Who are you," he spat, grabbing her wrists and jerking her into the wall, "to tell me what to do?"

She turned her head away and didn't respond.

"What? You won't talk to strangers?" he mocked. "Is that what Mommy taught you?"

Holly gasped, her pain physically tangible. Her eyes deadened as she tried to keep it all in, but a few tears glittered at the corners. She slumped against the wall, breathing hard, her ribcage expanding and contracting rapidly as she fought for self-control. Clearly in the grip of a panic attack, she looked towards Root, but he was still walking away, apparently unaware of the drama unfolding behind him. Artemis knew that was fake. Why was he leaving her? She didn't need toughening up. He felt blood pound through his brain as he got angry for the umpteenth time in the past few hours.

Finding no comfort to her right, Holly looked beseechingly to her left. Her wide, panicked gaze met Artemis's. he struggled to control his features. _Mesmerized. You are mesmerized. _

Jasper saw where her look was directed. "Short," he said slowly, "how far would you go to protect a couple of humans?"

It took a second for the sentence to permeate her mind and be comprehended, but eventually it did, and she sprang forward. "No," she whispered.

"Answer the question," he demanded.

The word dripped from her lips without any thought necessary. "Anything."

He curled a finger.

She hesitated.

"Or I could always break the little one's arm."

Trembling violently, she held out her hand. Almost tenderly, he grasped her wrist and elbow. Bending her arm up to a ninety degree angle and then sideways, away from her body. "Are you sure? You wouldn't rather I hurt one of the humans?"

"I'm sure."

"Positive? You must really like them."

She felt like she was breathing water. Nothing was real; especially not pain, so why worry? Her mouth came up with a retort all on its own. "A hell of a lot more than I like you."

Snarling, he snapped her arm sideways. With a grinding crunch, the bones in her elbow were shattered.

The world snapped back into focus, pain included.

"Hope that was worth it, Short," the sprite snarled. "Go kill yourself, why don't you?"

She looked at him.

"Half-breed," he shot over her shoulder as he walked away.

Holly reached tentatively across her body, touching her elbow. "Ow," she breathed.

"I should think so," Artemis whispered. "Holly, can you heal that?"

She directed her gaze at him, and he recoiled. Her eyes were empty, the little flame gone.

He barely resisted the sudden urge to strangle Jasper McKinley with his bare hands.

Sparks welled from her fingers, resealing her bones and ligaments in their proper position. As the pain dissipated, she came to herself, and suddenly every crushing insult was a stab in the heart. _Is that what Mommy taught you? Go kill yourself. Half-breed._ She lifted both hands to her face, shaking.

Artemis touched her shoulder gently.

She ripped away from him, spinning around and walking swiftly away. But she left something behind as she went to catch up with Commander Root. Something that fell away from her at her quick motion, and, by pure chance, landed on Artemis's hand.

He looked down regretfully at the tear on his finger.

0o0o0o0o0

There was stark silence and absolute solitude for the rest of the walk. None of them could bear to speak.

And of course, more of Holly's secrets were revealed. Apparently, the Fates wanted Artemis to know all about her, so he could feel as guilty as possible. Or that was his theory.

It came about rather poetically, actually. As their grim little group reached the front doors, Artemis glanced casually at the banner on the wall and happened to hit just the right spot.

The heading read, in English, "Those Who Paid the Ultimate Price." His eyes had lighted on an image of four individuals, two of them very familiar.

The caption said: _Coral and Marcus Short, a month before Coral's untimely death and a week before Marcus's. Coral died of toxic poisoning while on a mission in the Atlantic, and she gave her life to save those of her crew members. Marcus was victim to a stray poacher's bullet in Africa. _

Artemis briefly shut his eyes, the full weight of his species falling on his head. _We killed them. Humans killed them_.

Coral looked almost exactly like Holly; that was why he recognized her.

_Also in the picture: their daughter, Holly, and Coral's great-grand-aunt, Artemis._

He wasn't even surprised anymore. At this point, Holly could have been a cannibal and he would have taken the revelation without batting an eyelash.

He studied his namesake. She had black hair and blue eyes, her chin was resting on the younger Holly's head, and her expression was mischievous but kind. _So that's how you know them, Holly… whom are you descended from? I'm going to have to figure you out._

He had plenty of time in which to do so, but she seemed less than willing.

0o0o0o0o0

I know that in the books, Root used the intercom to call Kelp, but in the graphic novels Trouble was in the room with them, and I thought it would work better.

I'm not going to apologize for goriness. Though it has a happy ending, this isn't a "cute and funny" fic in general. You want cute and funny, go read Weakness and Strength and 12 Days of Valentines and Unknowing Confessions… oh yeah, every single one of my other stories! Really, people, if you're not up for some violence, don't stick around. I don't want to have my good mood dragged through the mid by nasty reviews.

A couple of autocorrect fails that occurred while I was writing the last chapter: 'Butler' turned into 'mud meeeee' somehow. 'Vanished' was reformed into 'cash usher' (I'm imagining the rapper made out of dollar bills). And: 'gotten' was switched to 'Hootenanny.' I'm really curious about this one.

Next chapter: the scene that was the inspiration for this entire fic. So review, and it'll come faster.


	8. Chapter 8

Cute little funny one.

0o0o0o0o0

"Fowl, front and center," Holly said impassively.

Artemis complied, a bemused smile twitching at his lips, as he thought of the drive to the shuttleport. Holly had driven a vehicle slightly smaller than the Truck, but capable of much higher speeds. Root, in the passengers seat, had gone from beet-red to lime-green as she took out her anger on the engine. Once the LEP captain had rolled down the window and floored the pedal, she clearly felt better, the storm clouds evaporating off her brow.

Artemis snapped back to the present as she asked, "What are you, about a six?"

He shrugged absently, still musing. They had pulled into the unused parking lot and unloaded, and Holly had helped Artemis out of the mini-Truck. Perhaps as a gesture of apology. Or forgiveness.

"Artemis Fowl doesn't know?" she said incredulously. "I thought you were the world's expert on the People. It was you who stole our Book last year, wasn't it?"

_Like you've forgotten… and no, I only want to be an expert on one Person in particular.  
_  
She eyed him, then the coil-heated suit, as though deciding whether she wanted to risk giving him the wrong size. Apparently, she didn't, because she stepped forward, standing against him and laying a hand flat on top of her head, then sliding it against his arm, stepping away to judge his height. He pretended that he hadn't noticed the smell of roses (probably her shampoo) or the way her hat-clad head rested against him for a split second as if asking for support, or how her fingertips were now pressed a little too tightly against him. Because, really, he shouldn't have noticed any of these things.

He also pretended not to notice the blush spreading across her face.

"Yeah," Holly muttered, stepping away from him and shoving the package into his hands. "Probably a six."

0o0o0o0o0

That was the first scene I came up with, even before I had the idea for this fic in general. After that, I was just going to do a few unconnected behind-the-scenes bits, but I scrapped that idea and went all-out. Aren't you proud of me?

Sorry it was so short; I feel like this chapter kind of stands alone.

You can thank Ru-Doragon for getting me to post this. I was hoping to squeeze a couple reviews out of chapter 7, but no one denies Ru.


	9. Chapter 9

I decided to respond to Tawny's review here: she asked if this was going to have a happy ending.

I'm not sure if I am physically capable of writing an unhappy ending. Even if I thought a happy ending would completely destroy this fic, I would still write it. Now, don't get me wrong, it will be realistically bittersweet and there will be much crying on shoulders. But the end is still about FIFTY CHAPTERS AWAY. Look how many chapters I've gone through already, and we're what, halfway through book 2? And I skipped book 1. So don't start stressing, that's like buying Christmas presents ten years early. Just enjoy the blood and guts. And maybe the cute bits, too, if you like that kind of thing.

Oh, and to Nello Orella: I made him different from the original Artemis on purpose-there is no way anyone is as blank as OA is, so I'm trying to delve into his deeper emotions a bit. Trying to dig out the real Arty. Thanks!

Inward and upward!

0o0o0o0o0

They sifted through the coats, hats and gloves quickly, all of them wanting to be wrapped up as thickly as possible to disguise their fairy weaponry. Artemis had just pulled out a brown cost that looked about his size when his vision went suddenly dark.

Pulling off the bright blue hat that had been shoved over his head, he glanced around for the culprit. Butler was too far away, even he couldn't move that quickly that quietly; Root was hardly he type; but Holly seemed completely absorbed in her hunt for mittens that weren't pink.

He reached over and tugged the front of her black hat over her eyes.

"Hey," she protested, "I didn't do it!"

"Didn't do what?"

She cursed, mentally reminding herself that he was a genius. Of course, if she even knew what he was talking about, chances were she was guilty. "Nothing. I haven't the foggiest idea what we're discussing."

He smirked. "Smart. But not quite smart enough."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

0o0o0o0o0

In later days, she would lie to herself. Tell herself that she was worried about all of them, or that of _course_ her first thought was for the commander.

But it wasn't true. The truth was, after Butler had thrown her away from the avalanche, as she spun across the snowy ice, she hadn't been thinking about herself, Root, or the mammoth bodyguard. Her first thought as she went into that drift was, _Oh, gods-is he okay?!_

0o0o0o0o0

Well, this is it, Artemis thought. I'm going to die.

The tracks seemed to approach in slow motion, allowing him to examine the churning of the wheels that would crush his flesh and bones into pulp.

He was falling through water, his vision blurring. Surely this wasn't how it was supposed to end…

His surroundings sharpened as a small, thin, but strong arm curled under and around his ribcage, pulling him up. Holly clutched him to her chest.

"Two left feet," he heard her say.

0o0o0o0o0

The walk back to the shuttle dock was long and unhappy. Holly stayed next to Artemis, feeling a bit guilty as she let him shield her from the biting wind. But when he drew slightly closer, understanding her motive, she decided it wasn't worth stressing over.

What was worth stressing over was her intense need to throw a snowball in his face.

It would be just so _perfect_. The little projectile would be on the fly before he could recognize what she was doing, and it would hit him smack in the nose with a _fwump_. And she couldn't quite guess at his reaction, but even if it involved retaliation it would be so worth it.

Her fingers twitched. _Is this how kleptomaniacs feel? s_he wondered. _This irrepressible need that can be postponed, but not eliminated?_

The wind direction shifted slightly, and Artemis stepped forward to ensure that the smaller fairy was still protected.

Holly bent down, scooping up a handful of frigid crystals. _Butler's not going to get mad at me for this, is he?_

_Too late. _Holly pulled back the boy's collar and dumped the ice down the back of his suit.

Silently arcing his spine, the teenage genius spun around. He was prepared to glare at her, but was caught off-guard by the sight of her gloved hand covering her mouth, her shaking shoulders and twinkling eyes.

_So this is what it takes to make you happy, Holly? Foaly is going to be amazed when I bring you back,_ Artemis thought wryly, bending down to the snow and packing it into a sphere.

0o0o0o0o0

…SNOWBALL FIGHT!

Aghhhh I need an idea for the next chapter… I'm running on fumes here…


	10. Chapter 10

DOUBLE DIGITS!

I am reading the AI graphic novel. When they're about to go into the crack in the chute wall to get into Koboi Labs, it shows the dashboard display. I just realized: not only is everything in English, the engine status is apparently "overhating." Yes, if I was that engine, I would hate Holly too much as well…

0o0o0o0o0

"I could tell you," Holly admitted, "but you're not going to like it."

"Tell me, Captain. That's an order."

Artemis listened attentively from the copilots seat as Holly quickly outlined her plan. She was quite clever, it was clear, and resourceful when she needed to be. Not only a loyal friend, but a useful ally.

He studied her for the hundredth time. There always seemed to be something new to see, some novel facet of her being that was only just coming into play. He could see why Foaly loved her so much.

0o0o0o0o0

Holly leaned over Root's shattered ribs, trying not to hurt him as her blue sparks caressed the broken skin, dipping inside and sealing the cracks in the bone. Artemis watched the process, fascinated. What he could do with magic…

As he imagined the possibilities, Holly was busying herself with a medi-pac. Shoving it into his hands, she ordered him to hold it to Root's chest for ten minutes, then left with a sweep of her head that told him she was trying to draw attention away from the fact that she was upset.

Butler followed her out, leaving Artemis alone with an unconscious Root. He tried to plan, but when that failed, he opted for simply sinking into a chair, holding the ice and magic to the commander's injured chest, and not thinking (read: thinking) about Holly. Which Greek god? Not Artemis, she was Holly's great-great-grand aunt. He tried to conjure up an image of all the gods. Unfortunately, the humans had bent the warlocks' original appearances all out of shape, so he was reduced to estimating with the common denominators. Aphrodite, strawberry blonde, blue eyes, beautiful; Apollo, dirty blonde hair, brown eyes; Ares, dark hair, dark eyes; Athena, brown hair, grey eyes…

And then it's always likely that Holly didnt inherit her looks from them, but from one of their descendants…

Artemis shot bolt upright.

One of their descendants. Holly was part human. He ran through another mental list, cross-referenced his theory with actual data, and decided he had an eighty-five percent chance of being correct.

He checked his watch. It had only been three minutes.

"Go," Root rasped.

Artemis started; he hadn't noticed the Commander awakening. "I'm sorry?"

He gestured weakly. "Go talk to her. I can tell you want to. I can hold it on myself." His hand moved to cup he medi-pac.

The human boy wavered, unsure. Only when the elf choked out a fierce "_Go_!" did he follow orders.

He left the medical bay, walking resolutely past Butler, who gave him an odd look, but said nothing. He knew the look on Artemis's face well-he was determined that nothing would stop him. If the bodyguard had ventured to pass a remark, it would either have been ignored or blown off.

Artemis paused at the door to the cockpit, calming down and forming his mood into a blank slate, ready to be whatever fit Holly's affectation at the moment.

He gently pushed open the door and entered, letting it swing slowly closed behind him. He sat in the copilots seat and strapped himself in, not wanting a repeat of the earlier mini-earthquake incident.

They sat in companionable silence for a time.

"Is it Cupid?" Artemis asked at last.

Holly's head snapped toward him and she gaped at him for a second, eyes popping, then, unable to look at him for very long, turned her shellshocked gaze to the dashboard. Slowly, she closed her eyes. "Why the _hell_," she asked, "do you have to be a genius?"

He smirked. "I take it that I am correct?"

"D'Arvit you" was the only reply he got.

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

She almost scowled, but smiled at the last second. "How'd you figure it out?"

He smirked intelligently, tapping his forehead.

She groaned. "Don't do that. _Riley_ does that."

"And Mr. Poole and I are nothing alike, of course…"

"_Hey_!"

He chuckled, and they lapsed back into quiet, Artemis staring out the window as the chute flew by. "This has to be dangerous," he murmured at length.

"Only in pods, really," she replied. "Shuttles are only flown when there aren't any hotshots-flares, I mean. And Foaly's technology has a .05% uncertainty margin when it comes to predicting hotsh-flares."

"And pods...?"

"We ride the magma itself. Much more dangerous, as to can imagine. But we've only had one fatality in the last fifty years," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper and her ears drooping at the tail end of the statement.

Artemis waited.

Eventually, she realized he wasn't going to back down in his quest for answers. "Recon and Retrieval like to core dive-see how far you can drop before hitting the flaps and rising. And when Bom died-" she dropped her head back, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. _Don't cry,_ she told herself, _don't cry,_ "he was chasing my flight record."

Artemis thought hard, choosing his words carefully. This was a touchy moment. "That doesn't make it your fault. If it ha been Trouble Kelp's record, would you blame him?"

She blinked. "No, I… I guess not."

He nodded, satisfied.

Holly looked at him. This boy could go from cold and emotionless to warm and fuzzy in the space of two seconds. Who _was_ this human? And why the hell did _she_ get saddled with him?

_Why is it always me?_

_But then, do I really regret it?_

0o0o0o0o0

When Artemis made it back down to the underground parking lot, he found Mulch Diggums handcuffed to Holly and chatting amiably. Apparently, they were, as it was called in the criminal world, "old friends," known to regular folk as, "old adversaries on friendly speaking terms because they've gone at each other so many times they're sick of being nasty."

"She's a feisty one, Julius," the dwarf said brightly as they hauled him back to the shuttle. "I can see why you hired her."

"I just bet you can. Don't call me Julius."

"Yessir, your Worship. Would you prefer Jules? Jojo? Julie-poo?"

Holly tried to conceal a snort, and Mulch glanced over at her. "Uh-oh, she's smiling, Commander! Insubordination!"

Holly made a fair attempt at turning a giggle into a sneeze.

"I'd advise you to not to bait her," Root said. "You've been on the tail end of a few of her temper tantrums, I dare say."

The convict glanced sideways, then tried to shuffle away from the elf. "Yeeeeeeeah, good point. You know, you've made quite a name for yourself in criminal circles, Holl."

"Oh, really?" she sounded interested despite her efforts not to.

"Yep. One guy 'bout to go rob some Mud Man place said 'if I get arrested, I just hope it's by that Short.' You're really quite popular. There are even some catchphrases... Lemme see. 'Never try to hide on a street full of short people, you won't see her coming.' I liked that one. Oh-'if a Retrieval officer points a gun at you, start to run. If Holly Short points a gun at you, start to pray.' I told him not to bother praying, just try to look pitiful."

"That would be pitiable," she corrected him.

"Oh, and you should never get in a vehicle with her if its just you two and she doesn't like you..."

"You learned that one from experience, didn't you?"

Mulch shuddered. "Never again. I'm glad there's innocent bystanders on that shuttle," he said earnestly, nodding at Root.

She shrugged. "If you piss me off…again…they're just collateral damage."

Artemis, who had been smirking up until then, swallowed hard.

0o0o0o0o0

Dun dun dun DUNNNNN…

Up next: the "do I look like a flyboy to you?" scene from Holly's point of view.


	11. Chapter 11

My dear, dear IzzyPure:

Your review made me nearly asphyxiate from laughter. "I can't wait for the flyboy scene with Holly. Awwww! That's when Artemis is like, I should not go into puberty around her because she is a thing of heavenly beauty. WAZZA!"

I was thinking I paraphrasing that into this chapter, but I'm doing it from Holly's POV, so it couldn't work. Sorry.

0o0o0o0o0

"I have to fly," Holly said for the hundredth time, "through a crack in a wall, just big enough to let us through, which is only going to freaking _exist_ for a few seconds, and if I fail, five innocents will die." She glanced at the boy in the seat beside her. "Well, three innocents and two criminals."

"I know," Artemis said. Again. Apparently, Captain Short was a bit nervous.

They waited tensely where Mulch had claimed the crack would appear. Everyone was extensively buckled in, not taking chances with Holly's flying.

The slit in the rock groaned as it was stretched wider by contracting granite.

"Go!" the two heard Mulch call from the passenger bay. "C'mon, Short!"

"A few more seconds," she said to herself, in a dreamlike daze where it was impossible to die. Her only goals were to get to the other side and not touch the walls. There was no fear there.

All at once, she stepped on the gas and shot forward, instinctively knowing that now was the time. She reveled in the speed, the snap of her head as she flew directly into the heart of the tunnel. The world came into sharp focus and she noticed Artemis gripping the edges of his armrests, eyes wide as he took in every moment. She looked at him for a little too long, and the side of the shuttle scraped stone, taking out their communications array.

_Oops_. She tried to ignore the Mud Boy after that.

"Are these fireworks really necessary, Captain? Or is this just more flyboy grandstanding?" he asked as she turned sharply, skidding for several seconds before coming to a stop.

The sudden stillness discombobulated her for a moment, then, all inhibitions lost in adrenaline, she gave him a fiercely wild grin, and said, "Do I look like a flyboy to you, Fowl?"

A second later, she realized he was giving her a very strange look.

0o0o0o0o0

Holly did not panic.

_Wait. We're leaving him down here?! We're just... leaving him?! But what if we all die?! What if there's an earthquake, and a rock hits him in the head and he dies? What if he goes stir-crazy and comes after us? What if… what if…_

Nope. No panicking whatsoever.

She touched his shoulder as they filed into the tunnel. She wasn't sure why.

0o0o0o0o0

"Mud Boy, you're not thinking…"

"I have to get in there, Mulch. I have to help her-them."

The dwarf gave him a knowing look. "Look here, boy. The entire criminal community and half the LEP is in love with Holly Short. You're a human. Don't even try. She won't notice. Believe me."

"I'm not-please, Mulch. I'm just trying to get to the Inner Sanctum. I have to help somehow. She saved my life in the Arctic."

"And now you're throwing it away? Would Holly appreciate that?"

They stared each other down.

The little man shook his head. "All right, but if she asks, I was not happy about helping kill her favorite human."

Artemis didn't argue with the title.

Mulch approached the plasma pipe.

0o0o0o0o0

Updates will come slower from now on, because I'm working on a new present for you guys. I'm trying to make a good story out of an old cliche-who can guess which overused story idea I'm reforming?


	12. Chapter 12

_No no no no no!_

_He came for me. _

_…I mean us. _

_How? Why is covered in gel? Holy Frond, did he crawl through the plasma?! Is he insane?!_

_Crap crap crap, this is bad…_

"Well, well, well... What do we have here?" Cudgeon asked gleefully, looking around at them all. "Now, I believe this is the part where I laugh maniacally and outline the rest of my plan."

"No," Holly replied, voice shaking. "This is the part where you ask if anyone wants to die in his place."

The insane elf cackled at her. "He's a Mud Boy, Short. In case you haven't noticed. No one is going to give themselves up for him."

"He's more of a fairy than you will ever be, _Private_."

He hissed. "Very well. Does anyone want to risk their own lives for the ridiculously short one of this human?"

Root and Butler stepped forward. Holly didn't stop at one step, walking forward until a nervous Cudgeon took his gun away from Artemis's head in order to aim it at her.

Satisfied with the reaction, she shifted into a fighting crouch. "Let…him…go."

His finger tightened on the trigger.

Artemis's cell phone rang.

0o0o0o0o0

Root nodded at the pixie. "She awake?"

Artemis glanced over at Opal. As he watched, her lashes fluttered, and malice-filled eyes opened. He stumbled back as Koboi pushed herself up-

And there was a dull thunk as Holly swiftly punched her between the eyes.

Opal sank to the floor again.

Holly said innocently, "Nope. Out cold."

The human boy gave her a mock-disapproving look, which she returned with a wicked smirk. Her eyes said, _Hey. I just offered to die for you. You can cut me some slack. _

He shrugged, turning a blind eye. She had a point.

0o0o0o0o0

"This is hardly amusing, Captain Short," Artemis grumbled, wiping rad-foam out of his eyes.

Holly tried harder to smother her giggles against a fist. "Yes," she said, "it actually is."

Trying to maintain one's dignity while fully aware that one looked like a miniature deformed Yeti was rather difficult.

_Think, Artemis. There is always good that can come out of any situation_. A lightbulb went off over his head.

Holly turned partly away from him to hide her growing laughter, and the Irish boy scooped up two handfuls of foam and swiftly ran his fingers through her hair.

Momentarily reverting from "police officer" to "girl," she shrieked and jumped away, hands flying to her head. "You-you-you jerk!"

"Ah, I'm grievously wounded."

"Ooooooooh, you…"

"Me?"

She pulled back a fist. "I've done it twice before. Third time's the charm. I can hit you into that plasma."

"I highly doubt that you would take my life after offering yours in exchange for it."

She opened her mouth, realized she had no reply, and shut it again. "Whatever."

"The answer that is used when there is no answer…"

Holly crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, hen dissolved into giggles when he copied the expression, unseen by any of the others.

After all, there is nothing funnier than a dignified person acting undignified.

0o0o0o0o0

I'm sorry. I know it sucked. The next one is good, I swear.


	13. Chapter 13

I'm back from my vacation! Awesomeness abounded. I was going to watch the countdown, but I ended up watching Return of the Jedi instead. I have no regrets.

Well, this is the last AI chapter. There will be at least one chapter set between books 2 and 3, but I might take a while because I am swamped with ideas for 12 Days. So expect some of that.

There might be a bit of this that you won't understand unless you've read the Fowl Files, but it isn't important.

0o0o0o0o0

After Artemis finished outlining his plan, he didn't look into any of their faces, instead staring at the snow. He didn't want to know what they were thinking.

Feeling a little awkward, but wanting to comfort him (it couldn't be easy to say something like that), Holly stepped forward and squeezed his shoulder. "It's a good plan," she reassured. "But _I'm_ donating the blood."

"No!" Artemis cried sharply. "I am larger than you; I have more to spare."

"By that logic, I should be the one to do it," Butler pointed out.

"No," he repeated. "It is my plan; I will fulfill its requirements."

Sighing, Holly pulled a knife out of her boot. "You're annoying, Mud Boy," she said. She gave him the hydrosion shell, indicating that he should hold it in his right hand. "Are you _absolutely sure_?"

He nodded tersely.

The elf rolled back his sleeve. She set the blade against his vein. "You're positive?"

"Yes."

Pushing guilt and shame to the back of her mind, Holly made a single, tiny cut, cleanly slicing into the bloodstream. Wincing at his hiss, she let the red liquid drip into the shell for a few seconds, then healed him.

"That isn't nearly enough," he said, dismayed.

"I know," she replied. Quick as thinking, she snatched the small canister and jumped away from him, yanking back her own sleeve and jabbing into her own forearm without hesitation.

"Holly!" Artemis shouted, leaping toward her and pulling the knife away from her, but it was too late - the shell's opening was pressed against the generously flowing wound. "What are you thinking?!"

"I'm thinking that I'm not about to let a minor endanger himself. You're, what, nine years old? It's immoral."

"As you know, I am _thirteen_," he spat through gritted teeth, "and well old enough to make a decision such as this. That was rash, Holly."

Once the shell was a good three-quarters full, she closed it and handed it back to the boy with a sweet smile.

He pressed his lips together, but thanked her politely anyway.

0o0o0o0o0

_You have to go in. Come on, nothing lasts forever. The pain will end. _

_But it _will_ hurt._

_Of course... but you promised him. You promised Artemis. _

_I promised something to a lying, cheating, kidnapping Mud Boy. Big deal. _

_So you're stooping to his level?_

_…no…_

_Just go in the water. _

_But…_

She closed her eyes and pretended it was Artemis Fowl the second, not he first, under the ice and she had to go save him.

She dove.

0o0o0o0o0

_They're both dead. She went into shock and she's drowning. I killed her. _

_She's dead. She's dead. _

Artemis dropped his head into his hands, fisting his fingers in his hair.

_She's dead. _

Root was shouting into his com line, but surely it was too late. Who could survive that? He was insane, sending her into subzero water… he was a murderer.

_She's dead. She's dead. _

Then ice smashed and water flew as they came soaring out of the Bay, gliding onto the deck of the Nikodim in a glorious arc.

Parabolas had never been more beautiful.

0o0o0o0o0

Holly was shocked, frozen, unable to register the sounds coming through her com speakers. It seemed impossible, but… he was _crying_.

Out of happiness.

And love.

And she had helped.

Holly felt something…change…inside her. The heavy, apathetic blanket that was smothering her heart lifted. Tears sprang to her eyes, and for the first time in a long time, she felt, despite the cold and her own discomfort, truly content.

0o0o0o0o0

They went down to Haven one last time. Clothes repair, debriefing, and cover stories being the stated reason.

Artemis Fowl Senior was flown to a hospital in nearby Helsinki, and Holly returned just as the rest of them were about to be done preparing the journey downward.

"Good thing too," said Root. "I was thinking I would have to fly this thing myself."

She gave him a withering look.

Artemis did not get a chance to talk to Holly, or even see her eyes. She had a helmet on from when she landed and took of her wings to when she walked, alone, into the cockpit and shut the door. He made an attempt to follow her, but the engine had roared to life and he decided to aim for self-preservation instead.

It was a short and quiet ride, each of them wrapped up in their own thoughts. When they emerged into the artificial light of the Haven shuttleport, there was a collective moment of confusion where it hit them - it was over. The goblins were put down, Artemis's father was safe, and it was okay to worry about the little things now. Such as how all of them were ravenously hungry.

"Let's get back," Holly suggested neutrally. "I want a shower. And food. And water. And a hug."

"All of those _are_ necessary for survival," Butler agreed, amused.

The drive was slightly less quiet and slightly more short. When they felt like it, Holly and Butler chattered like two old women knitting, swapping war stories and training experiences. Holly, aided by Root, told the story of her initiation into Recon, to general amusement.

"I realized what she was going to do a split second before she did it," the commander admitted. "But when she said 'what house?' like it was the most obvious question in the world… Turnball was _mad_. Which was good, because angry people make mistakes, but I have to say, I thought he was going to kill her."

"I'm glad he didn't," Artemis said.

Holly caught his eye in the rear view mirror and winked.

0o0o0o0o0

Once they arrived at Police Plaza, Holly evaporated, abandoning ship as soon as possible. Apparently, the shower was indeed an immediate necessity.

The humans went unconcealed. A _lot_ of people knew what was going on with them, and the rest heard about it within about thirty seconds. Not that they all heard an honest version; on the contrary, fairly soon the story claimed that Holly had kidnapped Artemis in revenge and dumped him into the Bay of Kola.

Whispers followed them down to the basement, where they found themselves again in room 207. Foaly had already holed himself up in there to escape public notice. He glanced up as they walked in.

Scanning the group, he sighed. "Let me guess. Shower?"

Root nodded tersely. "I need to go speak to the Council. You and Captain Short can debrief the Mud Men and as soon as flares to Tara die down, I want them sent home."

"Yessir."

Root left. It was abrupt, but what else was there to say?

Foaly turned his attention to Artemis. "Well?"

He sighed, frustrated with his incomplete answer. "She's shown improvement, but I can't tell for sure whether it will be permanent. Also, I haven't spoken to her privately since our latest escapade ended."

The centaur nodded. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me until we see her. I haven't a clue what I've done."

The door flew open, banging against the wall. A red, brown, and purple blur zipped in, closely followed by a red, brown, and green one.

Upon closer inspection, the first figure was Holly, wearing jeans, a black tanktop, and a half-buttoned plaid flannel shirt, and running as though the devil was at her heels.

The devil, in this case, was Trouble Kelp, still in his LEP uniform and sprinting after her. It was obviously a chase, not a race, from the way he copied her every move.

They were completely focused, albeit grinning madly. The competition was completely balanced for a very long time. Then Holly flipped over Foaly's back and kept running. Instead of following suit, Trouble lept onto the centaur, then pushed off his flank.

Holly went down, yelping, and was pinned by her elbows in a second.

"Take it back!" the bigger elf yelled, shaking her a little.

Foaly facepalmed. Not again.

"Never," she replied, laughing despite her slight fear.

"Take. It. _Back_!"

"No," Holly insisted, trying to squirm away.

"What did she say?" Foaly asked, cutting in.

"She called me-" he began, but a burst of giggles from the smaller elf cut him off.

Despite himself, Trouble had to stifle a few chuckles.

"Yes," Foaly said disparagingly, "it was obviously quite offensive."

Composing himself, the elf put on a poker face. "She addressed me as a 'lunkheaded buttface.' Extremely offensive to an officer of my caliber."

"What caliber would that be?" Holly muttered. "A nonexistent one?"

"Yes. It's so epic it doesn't have a classification yet."

"Epically bad, anyway."

He gritted his teeth. "You are in a very bad position here, Captain," he pointed out.

Holly seemed to realize for the first time that she was immobilized beneath a strong fighter at least half again her weight. "Ah."

"Now _take it back_."

"Never. Do with me what you will."

He looked at her for a while, eyes narrowed. "You remember that time Foaly and I threw you in the Fountain of Youth?"

"Yeeeeeeeees...?" she said, confused. Where was _this_ going?

"I have pictures."

Her eyes widened.

"Though I might not have them much longer."

She pulled against him, as though getting away could help her. "Don't even _think_-"

"I could always give them to Riley."

She went limp. "Fine!"

"Fine what?"

"I take it back," the younger elf grumbled.

Trouble let her go and helped her up a though nothing had happened. "Wonderful."

Holly swept a lazy hand through her messy, damp hair as she jumped over the back of a faux wood chair and crouched, tiptoe, on the seat. "Where's Beetroot?"

"His Worship is off taking advantage of his royal ability to be in control."

"And we are...?"

"Waiting for flares to Tara to die down and 'debriefing' the Mud Men," Foaly snorted, putting air quotes around "debriefing."

Captain Short turned to Artemis and Butler, spreading her hands. "This happened. For obvious reasons, you can tell anybody. Debriefing over." She looked back at Foaly. "What now?"

Trouble tapped her shoulder. "You want food?"

She didn't even bother to turn around. "If you can name one time when I have not wanted food, you don't have to get me any."

"Love you too," he said whimsically, going to get food.

"When will the flares be down enough to get a shuttle to Ireland?"

The centaur tapped at his laptop. "Bit over an hour. You're gonna have to change back into a jumpsuit before then."

She groaned, flopping into a sitting position and letting her head loll back. "I just want to go _home_," she mock-whined. "And get into bed, and mess around on the Ethernet, and watch Spiderman for the fiftieth time, and read the Hobbit, and, y'know, _maybe_ get some sleep."

"I heard that Ectosin or whatever that new stuff is causes dreamless sleep," the centaur mumbled, feeling rather helpless.

"I've tried it."

"And?"

She turned her sarcastic gaze toward him. "Do I look well-rested?"

He gave a negative grunt.

"So I guess I'm stuck with coffee and Peter Parker. For now, anyway."

Foaly and Artemis traded significant looks, and each began formulating in their minds a drug that could directly affect brainwaves during sleep.

"So," Butler said, trying to keep the silence from getting awkward, "is there any magic weaponry an old soldier would be interested in?"

"I could go grab a couple rifles from a locker," the elf suggested. "What harm could it do?"

"Famous last words," Foaly muttered, only half joking. "Go ahead, I'll entertain them with a detailed description of molecular structures."

"You'll bore them both to sleep," she laughed on her way out.

The moment she was out the door, the technical advisor grasped Artemis's hand in both of his and pumped it warmly. "I am certainly allowed to thank you now! That is _definite_ improvement! Especially compared to what I was half-expecting-no offense, of course," he added graciously.

"None taken," Artemis replied. "I would be skeptical as well were I in your horseshoes."

Foaly chuckled briefly, then cracked his knuckles. "Now, lets skip the molecular structures. What do you know about quantum physics?"

0o0o0o0o0

Five minutes of intense logical debate later, Holly limped back in, dripping a dark red trail behind her and whistling happily. A cut that led from just below the inside of her eye to the corner of her jaw dribbled slowly down her neck, and blood flowed freely from a slice in her boot. Nonetheless, she appeared to be on cloud nine, judging by the huge grin plastered from one pointy ear to the other. She held several different types of firearms on her shoulders.

"Finally," Butler rumbled. "Someone who speaks my language."

"You better believe it, big guy," she chirruped, slinging the many guns onto the table and siting down gracefully despite her wounds. "Have they been geeking at you?"

Not quite sure whether he was _allowed_ to use the term 'geek' to describe his employer, he settled for a loaded shrug. "What do you got for me?"

Everyone else winced at his grammar.

"Old stuff, new stuff, newer stuff," she replied vaguely, waving a hand at the rifles. "This one is the oldest, it's a-"

The centaur held up a finger. "Before we start worshipping the weapons, can I get the story on your face?"

"He had a knife, I had my arms full. Guess," she said dismissively. "I kicked him in the stomach and ran like hell."

There was collective silence.

"You… kicked… Jasper McKinley?" Foaly reaffirmed.

She nodded slowly. "It was… weird," she murmured at length. "I felt like something was... Balancing out. Stabilizing."

Artemis and Foaly exchanged a very loaded gaze.

"Great," the inventor said enthusiastically. "Continue."

And the three collaborators quickly hid their smiles.

0o0o0o0o0

The shuttle ride to Tara was positively enjoyable. Holly, Artemis, and Butler participated in a rapid-fire conversation that seemed to spread across every possible subject of mutual interest, fueled by the desire to actually get to talk before procedure required that they act "professionally." That term was brought up at one point, and Holly snorted.

"You don't like to be professional?" Butler inquired.

"Never saw the point. I'm too young to be stern and boring, and as long as people know what I can do, there's no need to act like I can do it. You know?"

"Wish I had that choice," the bodyguard said.

"You do your job pretty darn well," she pointed out. "And frankly, I can't imagine you acting bouncy all the time."

"It certainly wouldn't strike fear into the hearts of our enemies," he admitted.

"Laugh 'em to death, big man," she joked.

"If only," he smiled in return.

0o0o0o0o0

The Fowl Bentley was right where it had been left, parked rather haphazardly (for Butler, anyway,) near the bottom of the hillock that concealed the fairy fort. As they filed out of the shuttleport into the cool, misty Ireland air, Holly grinned wickedly and slung a wing rig around her shoulders. "Ten grams of gold says I beat you there," she laughed, powering up and rising to a height of ten feet.

In the spirit of fairness, the little elf waited until they had gotten in the car (Butler conducted a bomb check along the way), started the engine, and begun to move before she zipped off, flying low, the wind in her face.

Artemis watched out his window as a soft shimmer pulled up alongside the glass. It flitted in and out of visibility, looping up and down, occasionally traveling over the roof of the car and reappearing on the other side (with one foray under, which made him tense up and grip the edge of his seat. Noting this, she took pity and did not endeavor to perform such a feat again).

The ride lasted only forty-five minutes, but it felt like only five with Holly swooping around outside. At one point, she perched atop the roof, de-shielded, and leaned down, the wind ruffling her short hair as they held an epic upside-down staring contest through the glass. Artemis won.

When they were just reaching the garages, Holly opened her throttle and zoomed in just ahead of them. When the boy genius clambered out of the Bentley, she had adopted a ludicrously bored position on the hood of his father's Jaguar. "What kept you?"

"I…" he took a breath. "Please, come outside. I need to talk to you."

_Ohhhhhhhh, boy. Is he going to bring up the kidnapping? Can we just let that issue lie?_ she thought glumly, trudging after him. _He does look pretty uncomfortable_… she muttered a command to her helmet scanner. _And his heart is beating well above normal levels_.

He led her to the gravel path that twisted to the front doors, then turned. The words seemed to stick in his throat, but she saw Butler nudge him gently with his elbow, and he started to talk. Awkwardly at first, then with increasing confidence, then building too much momentum and babbling.

_Okay, this is the sweetest and most awkward position I have ever been in in my life. Ever. _

On one hand, Artemis Fowl was thanking her. That was a pretty empowering feeling. And yet at the same time, it was humbling. She owed him something too.

Holly reached down, plucking a gold coin from her belt.

0o0o0o0o0

I am so emotional right now. I've gotten through an entire book's worth with you guys, and this is just the beginning. I couldn't have done it without you. I want to thank in particular:

Tawny, who has been a crazy fan all along.

Nello Orella, who has given me wonderful, serious advice.

HollyArty foeva, who leaves funny and long reviews.

Isarelle ParadiseIsis Hypnosis, who has been with me all the way,

And, of course, Ru-Doragon, who has been an awesome (if slightly sarcastic) sounding board for new ideas. And who never fails to freak me out regarding the speed of my updates. You all have her to thank for the near-daily chapters you got.


	14. Chapter 14

Well, I'm too obsessed to stay away for long. This is set between books 2 and 3, and it's just a fuzzy kind of happy chapter.

0o0o0o0o0

"Well, young man? Have you found someone worthy of your respect?"

The boy slowly raised his head, and his cold blue eyes were snapping in a completely unfamiliar way. A secretive, excited way. An I-know-something-you-don't-and-I-like-it way, which was not unusual, but it seemed somehow more _pure_ right now.

"I believe I have," he murmured.

_Hmm_, Dr. Po thought. Then, unbidden: _I wonder... I wonder if it's a girl. _

0o0o0o0o0

Christmas was truly a merry affair in the Fowl household, what with Juliet and Angeline going crazy decorating the house and Butler and Artemis quietly submitting to their whims. There were some battles even they could not win.

Nonetheless, the young genius enjoyed the holiday. That wasn't to say he didn't breath a sigh of relief when he was able to slip away and return to his computer.

Checking his email proved to be a surprise. One message was displayed in red; an unfamiliar address. He ran a bug check, which came up clean. Checking the time signature, he noted that it had been sent mere minutes ago. Tentatively, he clicked.

_Hey, Mud Boy. _

_Thought you might like this. Merry Christmas. _

_-Holly_

Fingers explicably trembling, he opened the attachment.

His bright eyes widened as he took in the electronics, the contours, the side notes detailing the slightly more confusing operations.

He was looking at a blueprint for a prosthetic leg.

But not just any. This leg had transmitters that connected to an earpiece, which picked up brainwaves and translated them as commands. This was not some fancy wooden peg that could be attached to his father's severed limb and then hang there. This was not a crutch.

This was a _leg_.

Sitting back, he ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, Holly," he sighed. "Did I not owe you too much already?"

A _ding_ interrupted his wistful musing. Another email had been received.

It was, again, an unfamiliar address, but Artemis had a fairly good idea who it was. He clicked.

_Fowl-_

_You know, it's really hard to get surface-grown fruits down here…_

_Hint: she likes pomegranates. _

_-Foaly the Helpful_

He almost laughed aloud. Rubbing his hands together, he went to check the greenhouses.

0o0o0o0o0

Foaly typed furiously, his fingers a blur on the keyboard, sweat pooling on his brow. He would not be defeated this time. He was clearly superior. Any fool could recognize that a thousands-of-years-old centaur was more intelligent than a thirteen-year-old human! The fact that Fowl had gotten past his defenses twice already was humiliating. Now it was his turn to put the Mud Boy in his place.

Holly swung into the Ops Booth with a cheerful, "Good morning!"

The centaur's finger slipped.

"D'Ar_vit_," he snarled as the all-too-familiar message popped up on his screen: _Systems breached_.

"What are you..." the elf muttered, leaning over his shoulder.

She was silenced when a window popped up on the screen, displaying a very smug human, who was leaning back in his seat and chuckling. "I am triumphant once again, I'm afraid," he said clearly, nodding a hello to Holly.

She rolled her eyes affectionately, nudging her godfather. "You're under arrest for fraternizing with the enemy."

"I'm petrified," he replied grumpily. "Rematch?" he asked Artemis.

In perfect unison, human and fairy pushed their laptops slightly to the side, keeping the video link open, and pulling another computer into their range.

Holly clambered up onto Foaly's back to watch the show.

The two genii struggled, fingers flying over the keys as though it was a matter of life or death.

Holly didn't have the first clue what exactly was going on, but she could usually tell who was winning by which one of them was muttering angrily and which was smiling grimly.

It was quite entertaining.

As the stakes rose and each hacker got closer to cracking the other's software, insults came into play. At first whispered under their breath, the flyting competition _really_ began when Foaly referred to Artemis's computer as "a piece of cake" just a bit too loudly. After that, there seemed to be no limits to the technology-related rude remarks. "Remodeled troll dung" was one of the kinder phrases.

Holly was laughing near-helplessly by that point, clutching at Foaly's neck, so it was merciful that it ended quickly.

With a flourish, Artemis broke through the centaur's code, sat back, steepled his fingers, and watched as his rival struggled to salvage his crashing security.

"And, yet again," he murmured, "I emerge the victor."

Foaly shot him a death glare. Holly gave him a wink and a thumbs-up.

Over the weeks, and eventually months, that followed, scenes such as this one became fairly common. The trio became, if not friends, friendlier. Foaly consulted his fellow genius on inventions, and in return Fowl refrained from debilitating the LEP's computer system out of sheer boredom. A mental challenge was a mental challenge, after all, no matter what species it originated from.

And Holly kept her mouth shut about the whole thing. After all, she wasn't really one to talk. She was growing a little overfond of the Mud Boy herself.

0o0o0o0o0

Beautiful bridge? Stupid segue? Leave a review. I'm just starting to plan out book 3, so don't hold back. Reviews are what keep me motivated.


	15. Chapter 15

Heeeeeeeeeeeere we go again. There should be six chapters for The Eternity Code, but I might end up writing more. There are fewer time lapses - and therefore fewer chances for BtL's - in EC, so brace yourself, because I'm packing in all I can.

0o0o0o0o0

_I really, really hope that this isn't serious. We don't need something now, not just after the whole Bwa'Kell blowup. _

_London, though… funny thing…_

Because London was the capital of England. England was near Ireland. The capital of Ireland was Dublin. And near Dublin was -

Holly squashed that train of thought, opening her visor to clear her mind. She hadn't caught so much as a glimpse of Artemis in weeks. Foaly had mentioned that he was "busy" working on some new invention, but the centaur didn't seem to know what it was. Apparently, though, the human boy was quite preoccupied; he had been failing to initiate hack-skirmishes with her godfather.

She pouted.

_Ah, here's London. I can smell the fumes already. _

Holly closed her visor, checked her shield, and dove towards the cryogenics unit that was lit up in red on her map display. She aimed for the back parking lot. There was only a truck and one solitary figure located there, as with any luck, perhaps it was the person who made the call.

She alighted on the wall, scrutinized the boy -

And had a heart attack.

For a moment, she grinned like an idiot inside her helmet.

Then she realized what his being here meant.

He turned, and she noted the glasses on his face. Shield-proof, presumably, considering that he was focusing on her.

He started speaking.

Holly flew down, trying not to look obtrusively feminine. He clearly didn't realize who she was yet. Just to rattle him, she drew her gun. This would be good.

0o0o0o0o0

Artemis paced back and forth outside the truck, outwardly appearing almost ludicrously calm in the face of the bangs and crashes the vehicle was emitting.

He tried not to think of what could happen, preferring to imagine what was actually happening... Not that that was very comforting, either.

_Surely she doesn't have to hold him still. I should be in there. I should be helping her. _

He snorted quietly. _What could I possibly do to help? I have the advantage of height over her, but that's all. _

A high, ringing cry of pain issued from within the pod, and Artemis nearly broke his ankle as he turned sharply, jumping up onto the bumper and yanking at the door before he had time to consider. Freezing with the handle half bent, he listened more carefully.

No more could be heard from Holly.

He stepped back down, wondering what exactly was going on.

0o0o0o0o0

_Great. Hold Butler still. That shouldn't be any problem at all_, Holly though sarcastically as she cut through the steam, running for the huge Eurasian's head. Wrapping her strong but thin arms around his skull, she planted her feet on the ground, tucking the tips of her LEP boots (mismatched as usual) into the gap between the cryogenic freezer and the floor.

Holly trembled as Butler bucked. But mostly, she held him.

Mostly.

At one point, her grip slipped. It was a tiny shift, but coupled with a particularly violent spasm from the bodyguard, it was enough for him to shove past her barrier.

His forehead flew up, smashing into her nose with the force of a cannonball. The elf let out a desperate "Artemis!" but the word was so garbled by broken cartilage and pain that it was unrecognizable. Good thing, too - if he had heard her calling, he would have undoubtedly come to her aid.

Holly shuddered at the thought.

She forced her magic to avoid her own wound, pumping it into Butler with all the force she could muster.

0o0o0o0o0

Artemis hung up the phone, striding back into the kitchen. "I gave Madame Ko a message for her," he informed Holly. His voice held no small amount of amusement - the elf was eating at a fantastic speed and with no apparent regard for manners. Strawberry, watermelon, and plum juice stained her fingers and lips, turning both an interesting shade of purplish-magenta below the tape on her nose, which would stay there until she performed the Ritual.

"Are you sure Juliet'll get it in time?" the elf asked incredulously.

"Yes. My… wording made it quite clear how urgent our summons are." Resolving to put away business talk, the boy folded his hands and laid his chin atop them, settling his elbows comfortably on the table. "You're not wearing your hat," he commented, nodding to her spiky red hair, where he would have expected to find the black knit cap that Riley - he felt his entwined fingers knot into fists - had given her.

"Oh," she murmured, flushing and staring at the table. "He got sent back to Atlantis early."

"Ah. So you two...?"

"Friends. Neither of us really wanted to struggle through a long-distance, not when Cupid was holding over both our heads the fact that 'he's not the one'."

Artemis allowed a small smile to twitch the corners of his mouth. "And what poor, unsuspecting tech intern are you targeting now?"

"What - _hey_!" Growing indignant at his laughter, she grabbed the last piece of watermelon and threw it at him.

When the splatter of fruit over his face and in his hair only increased his level of amusement, she huffed and folded her arms, pretending to ignore how contagious his chuckles were. He laughed so rarely, but the sound was so nice... no no no, she couldn't smile, she had to frown...

A moment later, she was laughing with him.

0o0o0o0o0

Sorry it was so short, I am working on the next! Hope it isn't disappointing!


	16. Chapter 16

I hate to ask you all for favors, but I need one now.

Someone (either one guest under several different names, or many people working together) came to this story and left nine outright flames. Examples:

_I'd rather watch a "learn the language in 10 days" video than read the rest but I'm being forced_

_Is that present _(referring to the new story I'm working on)_ a punishment?_

_Artemis is a disturbed person and Holly isn't any different_

_This chapter is the worst of all of them_

_Only gay retarted nerds who have no friends like Weakness and Strength_

And worst of all, someone pretended to be Ru-Doragon (put that as their guest name) and said "I think you have enough chapters."

This is cyberbullying, and all you other authors know it. You know the feeling when you put your heart and soul into bringing a story to life, watching the characters blossom under your fingertips and guiding them on a carefully woven plot, and some short-sighted moron comes along and kicks you to the ground. They hurt you. They cut you to the heart and you are left there frantically searching through your story, asking, "What?! What's wrong?!" And when you can't find anything, you wonder if maybe the reason you can't find anything wrong with the story...is because something's wrong with you.

So guys, I need support. All you guys out there who honestly like this - Izzy, Tawny, Isarelle, Nello, ARTYSgirl, HollyArty foeva, everyone - just tell me that this isn't a horrible failure. Please.

And now, let me try to give you a cheerful, entertaining story. But I'll be wondering about it all the time.

0o0o0o0o0

"Where is Holly? I need to thank her. Again."

"She's completing the Ritual. You can guess where," Artemis replied, smiling indulgently.

The man noted his expression and raised an eyebrow. "You really like that girl, don't you?"

"I do," he admitted openly. "She has a sharp sense of humor and is quite intelligent in her own right."

"Pity she's a fairy," Butler said casually.

"Yes, but if she weren't, after all, I likely wouldn't have met - say, what exactly are you driving at here?"

"Oh, nothing," his bodyguard said, smirking widely. "Come on, we should probably check the security monitors."

He strode ahead out of the room, leaving the rather perplexed boy behind him.

0o0o0o0o0

Butler and Juliet were still in a tight embrace when Holly strode into the kitchen. "You know, the back door is op - _what the hell happened here?!"_

Her voice rose frantically and her eyes whipped about, searching for and finding Artemis, checking him over to ensure that he was all right.

Juliet broke away from her big brother, squealing, "_Holly_! Arty told me, like, _everything_ about you! I can't believe you're the first girl in Recon," she continued earnestly. "That's so cool."

"Funny," Holly said in a low, mock-angry voice. "I never told him that."

Artemis at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed. Slightly.

"Well well well, Mulch Diggums," the LEP captain said, switching her focus and stalking forward. "Looks like that 2-day head start didn't help you much after all."

The dwarf swallowed and backed away, raising his palms. "Come on, Holly. Please? Can't you let me off this once?"

She replied by pulling a pair of handcuffs off her belt.

"Ah," he said flatly. "That's a no."

There was, of course, a chase, drastically shortened by the fact that the dwarf was not optimistic about his chances underground, due to the Manor's limestone foundations. So he was confined to the house, unless he could find an exit.

He never had the chance. Holly had him on the ground with both hands behind his back before he could make it to the end of the huge kitchen. Grabbing his meaty arm, she cuffed it to a chair.

Turning around as if no, she had not just assaulted someone, Holly said, "Okay, who wants to call Root and tell him everything?"

No hands went up.

The elf groaned. "Why do I get all the dirty jobs?"

0o0o0o0o0

"You want a mind wipe, correct?"

The world seemed to slow down.

A mind wipe.

No more walking into the Ops Booth to a furiously battling centaur and human.

No more greeting him, having him look up to say "Hello" in return, and hearing Foaly cry out in triumph as he managed to beat Fowl's computer network in that one moment of distraction.

No more wrapping her arms around her godfather's torso and dragging him away from his laptop so that Artemis could win.

No more laughing about it.

She realized that this almost-friendship-sort-of-rivalry meant a lot to her.

Suddenly, the world butted back in and Artemis was saying, "I agree to your terms."

No.

Gods, no.

She wanted to jump off the sofa and yell, "No! Anything but that! Have him give the ransom gold back, have him swear to be as submitting as a gnome wife, but please, don't take him away!"

She stayed silent, quietly breaking inside.

0o0o0o0o0

Oh, yeah - another word to the flamer.

I'm not gonna stop.

I mean it. I am going to keep writing this story until either I finish it in a blaze of glory or every single person who reviews is telling me I suck. That includes Tawny, so guess what? Never gonna happen. In. Your. Face.


	17. Chapter 17

I have to thank you all, of course. Almost as soon as I posted the last chapter I got people telling me to "ignore those flames" and "they don't know what they're talking about" but a ton of people really went above and beyond and reviewed or PMed me the most motivational and heartwarming stuff that I have ever seen. I don't think anyone has ever been so understanding with me.

I will continue this fic, right to the glorious (eg, easy to add to) finish of book 8, and any dumbass who thinks they can stop me is narcissistic and self-deluded. WE WILL CONQUER.

0o0o0o0o0

Foaly and Root disappeared off the screens, and there was a collective loosing of breath. All in all, negotiations had gone better than expected.

Holly closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the smooth (fake) leather behind her. There seemed to be a black hole where her heart should be.

Artemis looked over at the elf. She cracked open her eyes, smiling weakly.

But he wasn't paying attention. The little flame that resided in her eyes wasn't there, and he was too panicked to bother with happy facades. "Holly, what's wrong?"

She pulled her eyebrows together. "What?"

"You look upset."

"I… I'm fine," the elf muttered, turning her head away. "Just tired."

He frowned, unsure whether to press the issue, but she preempted him by curling up against a decorative pillow and closing her eyes.

_She must be exhausted. She was on duty before she came here. Maybe that's all it is,_ he rationalized.

He couldn't quite convince himself.

0o0o0o0o0

Ten minutes later, Artemis stuck his head into the kitchen. "Juliet, I am going to go meditate. Be sure to tell Holly not to disturb me."

"Can you wake her up? I wanna talk to her," the blonde said, twisting a loose strand of hair around her finger.

He almost protested that she could do it herself, or that Holly could remain asleep, but simply shook his head and strode over to the sofa.

It was a good decision.

The elf's forehead was slick with sweat. She was thrashing as though in the grips of some infernal torture device, teeth gritted, muffled moans escaping through her barely parted lips.

Swiftly coming around the couch, Artemis knelt before her and shook her shoulder. "Holly," he urged. "Holly, wake up."

He suddenly understood Foaly's state of perpetual pity for his goddaughter. She couldn't even sleep - a state necessary for survival - without being plagued with unnecessary pain.

Shaking didn't seem to have any effect on her nightmare, so he did the only other thing he could think if - he plugged her nose. With her jaw locked tight, she was clearly breathing nasally, despite the fact that this was rare during sleep.

She jerked awake with a cry, gasping for breath and looking around, frazzled and scared.

When he was younger, Artemis himself had nightmares, of course. His mother was always too far away to hear, but Juliet had always snuck into his room to hold and comfort him. Remembering how she had always acted, he copied her movements now.

His fingers twitched at her brow, brushing away the beads of sweat, then he pushed back her spiky hair with the side of his hand. "It wasn't real, Holly," he murmured quietly, gripping her shoulder with his free hand. "It was just a dream."

Resisting the so-strong instinct to lean forward and hug him, she opted for sinking back into the cushions and shaking.

He came with her, long digits gripping her upper arms. "Holly, look at me."

Hesitating slightly, she lifted her hazel eyes to his.

_Elves are highly empathetic_, he coached himself. _If you remain calm, she will regain control_.

She studied his deep blue irises, feeling the sudden peace rolling off him. Her heart slowed, gently pulsing as her system decided that she was not, in fact, facing down a crazed Cudgeon with a Redboy pressed to Artemis's temple.

"Sorry," she muttered, humiliated.

"It's fine," Artemis replied soothingly, and he saw a little spark jump in her eyes. Encouraged, he continued, "I used to have horrible nightmares about butter knives."

The right side of her mouth curled upwards. "Butter knives?" she half-giggled.

Nodding matter-of-factly and beginning to outline a few of his more amusing childhood dreams, he determined right there and then to make her laugh whenever possible. He had little enough time left in which to do so, and he wanted the fire in her eyes to be blazing hot before he forgot it forever.

0o0o0o0o0

"So. Holly."

The two girls were seated at the counter, sipping lemonade. Holly kicked her feet lazily, her mind elsewhere. "Hmm?"

The blonde scrutinized her carefully. "You _like_ Artemis, don't you?"

Predictably, Holly choked.

The human waited patiently until she had coughed, wiped her mouth, and wiped her eyes.

"I have no idea-" she spluttered, still hacking, "what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on," the Butler snorted. "When he walks into a room you light up. When he touches you, you go all tense, then completely relax. When he says something confusing, you get way more flustered than you have any right to." She leaned closer. "So?"

"…Butler put you up to this, didn't he?"

Juliet flipped a corkscrew of hair over one shoulder. "He said Arty was acting weird earlier when he asked about you."

Intrigued, the elf leaned in. "Weird how?"

"Answer my question and I'll tell you."

Holly folded her arms, sitting back and narrowing her eyes suspiciously. Wondering if she could trust this Mud Girl.

Well, either way they were all going to forget. What did she have to lose?

The little fairy stuck one long finger in Juliet's face. "Understand… that if it wasn't for the mind wipes…"

"You wouldn't be talking. I get it."

Holly just knew she would regret this later, but she had to talk to somebody, and this human teen was the perfect choice. Compassionate, sweet, and best of all, she couldn't tease her about it later. "Okay. I… find him intriguing. In a… male way. Does that make sense?" When Juliet nodded, the elf tried to continue, stuttering. "He… he's like nobody I've ever met. He's so smart, and clever, and high-and-mighty, but it seems like he honesty likes me, and he almost never passes up an opportunity to make me laugh... You know, he stuck his tongue out at me at one point right after we crushed the goblin revolution. Made the stupidest face ever. Just for me. And sometimes, I wonder if he has an ulterior motive... But what could it possibly be? He made me happier than I've been in years, and he's just going to disappear out of my life again… so what could he got out I making some random fairy happy?"

"But you aren't some random fairy," Juliet refuted. "Not to him. You saved both his parents - maybe he feels like he's repaying a debt."

The LEP officer smoothed her eyebrows with the tips of her fingers. "Maybe. He's just… confusing."

"Tell me about it."

There were a few seconds of silence.

"So, do you call him Arty to his face?"

Juliet grinned, her blue eyes crinkling. "Yep. He actually doesn't get mad. Gets pissed as hell if anybody else tries to, though."

"Ooooooooooooooh..."

The human girl reached over the counter and smacked her head.

Fluffing her spikes, Holly had an idea. "You're in training to be a bodyguard, right? Want to spar?"

0o0o0o0o0

Artemis finished meditating and reviewing his plan, burned each of his helpers' parts of the execution onto separate discs, and slipped them into protective sleeves. Exiting his room, he met Butler, who was puffing up the stairs.

"They went into the gym to spar," his bodyguard said, clearly amused, "but I think it simply deteriorated into a poke-war within the space of five minutes. Then Mulch went in, and after that it was something like Tag. They're probably doing something incredibly dangerous by now."

Artemis shook his head. "I'll give you your instructions after I've given them theirs," he told Butler. "Just let me hand these out and I'll come back up."

Upon entering the gym, his first thought was that it was empty except for Mulch, who was calmly sitting on a bench, eating an entire turkey, and gazing upward.

Then he followed the dwarf's sight line, and nearly facepalmed.

A rock-wall had recently been added to the gym for the Butlers' use. It was an actual mountain face, taken from the Cliffs of Dover, extremely difficult and dangerous to climb without professional gear.

Three guesses what Juliet and Holly were doing.

The elf, surprisingly, was up higher, perhaps due to the fact that her tiny limbs could find purchase more easily. Juliet, however, was holding her own quite nicely, only a few feet below her opponent.

The ceiling was approaching fast, and Holly raised a fist in the air, whooping in triumph.

It seemed as though the Butler had been waiting for this moment. She reached up and tugged hard on the fairy's ankle.

Holly's and Artemis's cries mingled as one fell and the other leaped forward.

But, predictably, Juliet did not lose her grip. She merely swung her companion down to a lower ledge, depositing her on it and scrambling the last two yards to the top.

"I win," she called down.

Artemis rubbed his chest, wondering if this was what a heart attack felt like.

Holly was good-natured about the whole thing, especially after they had reached the ground and she had given Juliet a good punching.

When Artemis turned to leave with them, he spotted Mulch, whom he had forgotten due to his uncharacteristic silence. The dwarf was giving him a _very_ knowing look.

0o0o0o0o0

Letting him walk off that plane was the hardest thing she had ever done, and Holly Short had done some very hard things.

That boy was her savior. And she was letting him be crucified.

She felt Juliet's hand slip into hers and give it a squeeze.

She couldn't find the strength to squeeze back.

0o0o0o0o0

The Bible parallel was not meant to offend anyone. I am perfectly tolerant of all religions (and atheism) so please don't burn me at the stake. Just using this thing called a metaphor. Even if Arty is nothing like Jesus until book 8.

I've turned on moderation for guest reviews, so I can delete flames. Take THAT, you fire-breathing reviewers.


	18. Chapter 18

On to the action! There will be something for all of you in here: angst, action, sorrow, fear, and of course, the straight-up romance in the scene I know you've been waiting for: "it's weight sensitive."

0o0o0o0o0

"Just drive around the building," Juliet griped. "What kind of genius plan is that?"

Holly nodded vaguely and muttered, "I know, right?"

"Are you listening to me?"

Again, her response was dreamy. "Uh-huh."

"Trolls are the most beautiful creatures on earth."

"…totally…"

The human girl groaned. "It's Artemis, isn't it? You're worried about him."

Snapped out of her reverie by his name, Holly blinked at her. "Worried? Are you kidding? I'm terrified. I'm going out I my mind here. He's saved my life…" she counted on her fingers. "Well, twice. And he kept from killing me once," she added lamely.

"Wow. Impressive. You know, I don't fall in love with every guy that doesn't kill me."

"I am _not_-"

"Uh huh. Sure."

Leaning against the window, Holly blinked back tears. "We can't fight now, Juliet. We -" she wiped her eyes. "Gods, I'm supposed to be a professional..."

"Professionals have feelings too," the teen replied in a softer tone.

"I know," the fairy said. "But not on the job."

"We're people all the time, you know. See, this is why I'm not sure I want to be a bodyguard. I hate the idea of having to turn off my feelings and kill."

"You don't want to be a bodyguard?" Holly asked, shocked. "Is that even allowed for a Butler?"

"You're one to talk about what is and isn't allowed."

"Well... Is it?"

"Not by the old rules, but Mrs. and Mr. Fowl aren't going to stop me. They told me to do what I want to. And besides, they currently aren't planning on any more kids. So I'm free to pursue anything else. I'm thinking about wrestling," she said, gritting her teeth in the last word as she abruptly kicked the throttle down and fishtailed around the corner.

Holly yelped, gripping at the seatbelt that hung limply beside her as she was thrown bodily into the air. "What was _that_ for?!"

"Hey, we're trying to attract attention."

"Without seeming like we are."

"Tell me you didn't enjoy that."

Holly grumbled.

0o0o0o0o0

The laser-cutting-through-his-ceiling thing was dangerous, she knew. If he got in the way, after all, the results could be permanent and painful. For both of them.

She did it anyway. Heck, he was a Fowl. He was smart enough to stay away from things that could hurt him. Of course, he clearly needed to fine-tune that sense and stay further away from her.

A pang ripped through her chest as the square of ceiling fell.

Seeing him again was such a relief that she nearly lost her balance and slipped through the hole herself, but was spared by the distraction of banter. Her "I think we're getting to know each other too well" was perfectly serious.

But she wasn't about to walk away from him. It was too late.

He was, by nature, a Fowl. And she knew full well that he was doing to her what his father had done to Angeline.

And there was nothing she wanted to do about it.

_0o0o0o0o0_

_I should have expected this. _

_There is no changing human nature. _

_No. He _is_ different_.

Holly looked into the Mud Boy's eyes as she finished the cut, and found there the sadness, the disappointment she was looking for.

Truly, as he had said, this was the only way. The thumb-mutilation was honesty necessary.

Her head groaned even as her heart cheered.

0o0o0o0o0

She watched, eyes half-closed, adrenaline rushing through her system, as he fiercely scrutinized the security doors. She was blocking out the danger and focusing on him - after all, if she was going to die, she would rather die happy; and if they didn't die, it would be because of him.

Her lidded eyes flew open when his slim fingers wrapped around her belt, yanking her to his chest. His lean arms settled around her hips and waist, keeping her torso pressed against him with just enough pressure.

Holly's mind effectively flew out the window. The only reasons for this behavior she could come up with were:

A, he realized that there was nothing he could do and he was hugging her goodbye.

B, he'd figured it out and was embracing her in triumph.

C was her favorite - maybe he just felt like it.

Either way, he smelled like winter and skin and men's shampoo - and what girl can resist that?

So she laid her head on his collarbone and brought one hand up, putting it over his rapidly pounding heart.

Then she heard his words.

Then she comprehended them.

And her heart shattered.

0o0o0o0o0

_Crap crap crap crap crap_

_Guys with guns, guys with guns, guys with BIG SCARY GUNS..._

_OH DEAR FROND THAT BULLET NEARLY HIT ARTEMIS...!_

_Wow, Butler would have killed me. _

When Holly turned, Artemis jumped, thinking that he had been discovered hacking.

But she was merely shielding him from the crazed Spiro and his gorillas. She curled an arm around his chest, supporting him on her Moonbelt.

He smiled briefly, flashing back to the cold Arctic breeze, a leap from a cliff, and a moment of terror before the blessed security of this touch.

0o0o0o0o0

Because we all noticed that they were getting reeeeeeeally affectionate before the mind wipe, but were tossed back to square one when Arty was a jerk at the beginning of TOD.

So, did anybody else realize that if they had taken a latex imprint of Spiro's thumb, then a latex imprint of that latex imprint, they would have his thumbprint? Am I alone in the universe?!

Next chapter: Artemis has cured Holly... Mostly. But how will his mind wipe affect her progress? And what is his final gift to her?


	19. Chapter 19

Pay attention to my writing style and see if you can tell when I get all mushy and emotional.

0o0o0o0o0

On the way home, Holly's wrist buzzed. Never averse to taking important calls in others' presence, she unwound two wires, wrapping one around her thumb and the other around her pinky, and held her hand up to her ear. "Hey, Foal," she muttered unhappily. "You guys there already?"

Artemis couldn't hear the centaur's reply, but from the way Holly's ears lifted he could tell it was a negative. "Two hours after we get there… okay, I'll text you." She folded the wires and tucked them back into her wrist computer. "We have time," she said brightly.

Artemis nodded, staring blankly out the window. In five hours, she would be lost to him forever. What would he feel after that? Surely his every emotion was pale in comparison with hers; would there be a gaping rent in his life? Would it drive him to depression? Compel him to search desperately for this whatever-it-was he had with her - something he couldn't ever find?

He hung his head.

0o0o0o0o0

She was _not_ going to cry.

She hadn't cried over it yet, and she was not going to.

She had spent the last couple of hours talking with Juliet about wrestling and diets and muscle versus technique and the whole conversation felt so _fake_. They both knew what they were covering up.

Then Artemis had called both Butlers up to his room - to say goodbye to the them he knew, she supposed. So she sat on the sofa and stared at nothing and missed him desperately.

Then they came downstairs, and that was almost worse. There seemed to be something different about his eyes - they were dimmer. Not quite as blue. Fogged.

She almost burst into tears right then, but reminded herself of her resolution and soldiered on.

It was almost okay until they got to the actual procedure. Holly knew how it felt to be poked and swabbed like a science experiment. And knowing what was coming... sure, it was painless, but it still seemed like mutilation to her to erase someone's memories.

Seeing him - powerful, controlled Artemis Fowl - like that… it was like looking at a picture of herself in a dress. Confused and unsure, trying to figure out exactly what to do. Out of his element.

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

0o0o0o0o0

She almost went back and reburied his time capsule.

She almost hit Foaly in the face.

Almost cried on Mulch's shoulder.

Almost screamed at Root when he laughed at Artemis.

Almost didn't say 'It's better this way.' (It was a lie, not that he had to know that.)

But mesmerizing him was the worst.

Faking that initial calm was easy. After all, she could see that he was doing the same.

"Yes, Artemis. This is goodbye, for the last time."

She had hoped he was going to give her a personal goodbye. No such luck.

But the glimmering at the corners of his eyes said it all.

At first, her magic wouldn't come - a sure sign that every particle of her being resisted this. Then sheer willpower and numbness allowed her to put him under.

His frown lines smoothed away, his eyes glazed over, and he was looking at her almost affectionately.

She managed to get through questioning him. Then Foaly almost absently handed her the goggles, and everything seemed to crash down. She stared at the hypno-lights built into the frame, and realized that ultimately, it was she who was stealing this life from him.

She stepped forward.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Shaking arms reached out.

_Arty_.

Holly threw herself backward with a sob, her long-suppressed tears blinding her as she spun and shoved the goggles into her godfather's waiting hands. "I can't," she choked, whirling back, running to Artemis, and taking his limp hand. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "Please come back someday."

She pressed a gentle kiss to the back of his fingers, then activated her wings, rising up and swooping out of the door. There was somewhere she needed to go.

The centaur just shook his head. "Emotional creatures, elves," he commented thickly. "You know, I don't like this any more than she does, but I have to say, she _was_ getting a bit too fond of you. If you know what I mean."

Moving carefully, he adjusted the goggles around the boy's head…

…and pressed the button.

0o0o0o0o0

She broke more regulations than she ever had before. Holly flew too fast, too low, in the wrong areas. But who was going to fault her?

It didn't take long to find the place. She didn't use her helmet locator, preferring to search for the giant oak herself. Her crying had stopped, so her vision was clear, and all that was left in her heart was a heavy sense of determination.

_There. Right there_.

She came in from the same angle as she had that December day, kicked up dirt on her landing in the same way.

Looked skyward in the same direction.

Then slid down, trailing her fingers through the leaves below the huge, knotted tree.

But there was no whiz of a dart over her back. No cold, beautiful voice asking if she would consider peaceful surrender.

She grabbed two fistfuls of her hair, crumpling to her elbows and knees.

_No_, she screamed at herself, unsure if it was aloud or not. _He is not beautiful_.

_There had been snow on the ground._

_There hadn't been leaves on the oak. _

_I had found an acorn right away. _

_The river had been frozen_.

So many tiny differences, that really didn't matter in the light on the one huge one.

He. Wasn't. There.

Holly Short stretched herself out on the ground and screamed.

0o0o0o0o0

She eventually found the strength to peel herself off the sacred land and return to Haven.

She was not surprised to see a box on her doorstep; but that was more due to the fact that she wasn't feeling much of anything just then.

There was only one person she ever got packages from.

Scooping it under one arm, the elf stalked into her kitchen, plopping it on the table and splitting the tape with her nails.

Inside were several small packages and a note.

_Dearest Holly,_

_Lavender is typically used by humans for a more restful slumber. I have no concrete evidence what the effect on elves might be, but I can certainly hope that it will help you. _

_I will miss you, even if I don't know it. _

_Your friend (I hope) and partner,_

_Artemis Fowl II_

She sat down, hard, into a chair.

All she could coherently think was, _Don't be stupid, Mud Boy. Of course you're my friend_.

Tears slipped out. One by one. Dripping down her nose, sliding off her pointed chin, staining the letter.

_Dearest Holly. _

_Dearest. _

She picked up one of the little cloth-wrapped bags. It held thin purple flakes. As she turned it over in her hands, she spotted a tag, handwritten in Artemis's flowing calligraphy: _Dissolve in bath_.

Another, a plastic cylinder capped with wire mesh: _Place on/near pillow_.

A candle._ The smoke will be scented. Please do not hurt yourself_.

Gods, this hurt so much.

Holly laid her head on her arms and remembered his thin fingers pulling her into his embrace with surprising strength…

She cried herself to sleep, slowly falling into the black quiet.

Hours later, Holly Short lifted her head and looked about her.

There was no fire. No explosions. None of her friends were lying dead around her.

Which meant...

Which meant she was awake.

Dear gods.

Once more, one final time, she let her tears fall.

Because from the metaphorical grave, Artemis Fowl had again demonstrated his ability to do whatever he wanted.

Her sleep had been completely dreamless.

0o0o0o0o0

A/N:

You know, I think I could stop here if I wanted. This would make an awesome ending. Tell me in a review if that's what should happen.

And if I continue, next chapter (or two): Arty's effect on Foaly and Root, Jasper's triumphant return, and Holly's flashback - the reason that there was no BtL for book one.


	20. Chapter 20

In chapter 18, when I said "how will his death affect her progress..." Yeeeeeeeeaaaaahhhhhhh, it was really late at night. I meant mind wipe, and it is fixed now. Forgive me? -holds out lollipop- -Artemis runs away screaming-

Sorry if you thought the last chapter went a little overboard; people who have been emotionally fractured by loved ones leaving them before tend to be more susceptible to repeats of that behavior. So Holly was flashing back to her mother's death.

0o0o0o0o0

She didn't go back to work for a week.

Nobody mentioned it.

Which made her extremely mad. She wanted someone to shake her and get in her face and snap her out of it, but even Root was treating her with kid gloves.

She constantly swung between wanting to punch something (or someone, more likely,) and wanting to cry. The latter urge was repressed until she got home every night, the former was taken out in the gym on the punching bag.

Every record that she hadn't stolen already, she smashed over the next few months. She became, without a doubt, _the_ best Recon officer. Every mission was flawless, her paperwork was done ahead of time, and her corded muscles were hard as diamond from hours spent exercising.

It was all to distract herself. To throw her focus into a project so entirely that she could lie and pretend that when this was over the emptiness wouldn't come rushing back, all the more potent because of its brief absence. She would lie to herself and say that she didn't see a flash of bright blue intelligence every time she closed her eyes. She would claim that she had Foaly and Trouble and Cupid and the rest of her family and that was all she would ever need.

If necessary, nothing she told herself would have a grain of truth in it ever again.

Because Artemis hadn't knocked down the walls she had built around herself. He was too special for that. No, the defenses were still up, she still got close to no one.

He had simply teleported right through them. Apparated, if you will. He brushed them aside and proceeded to claim her as his and spirit her away like he did every other thing he wanted. His charisma drew others to him like moths, an she had fallen into that same trap.

And when he was gone... where was she? Dropped from a height, previously trusting that he would not let her go.

He hadn't, after all. She still felt his grip. Only now...

...not even he knew it was still haunting her. Pulling her to an empty goal. If she managed to go topside right now and flung herself in his path, he would not know her. He had forgotten.

Forever.

0o0o0o0o0

Foaly watched his goddaughter stalk past the Ops Booth, obviously on her way to another mission. It was Root's way of being kind, distracting her from what she was feeling.

He couldn't imagine what it must be like for her. Her eyes were constantly blue, her shoulders were perpetually slumped. Even he occasionally found himself reaching for a spare laptop so he could ask Fowl about some idea or other, before remembering…

Remembering. Ha. He should tell Artemis that one next time they -

Oh. Wait.

Foaly sighed and got back to work.

0o0o0o0o0

Root groaned, cracking his joints as he got out of bed. There were no major turf wars that he knew of, no serious crime waves, and no trolls loose upstairs. It should be a peaceful day at the office, so long as the Mud Boy didn't stir things up.

He frowned. There it went again, that stubborn feeling that wouldn't go away. Try as he might, Julius Root simply could not make himself believe, deep down, that that human was gone for good.

_After all, he wouldn't leave his Holly behind like that…_

Wait a second. Where had _that_ thought come from?

He quickly ran through a ream of mental data. The Fowl boy did treat her with an almost indulgent level of respect and tolerance; he always explained his plans in more detail when Holly was the one who asked; and in a crisis, she was his right-hand woman.

Holly obviously looked up to his cleverness; she enjoyed talking to him; and she was first to step in front of the vulnerable human when danger reared its head.

But surely she didn't... _like_ him. Preposterous. It broke every possible rule.

Realizing what he had just thought, Root smacked himself in the head.

He would just have to watch her a little more carefully from now on. Easy.

After all, it was probably just his imagination.

0o0o0o0o0

_When did it start?_

_When you healed his mother. _

_But I didn't notice any weird feelings. _

_Believe me, they were there. _

_Are you sure?_

_Something stirred deep in your heart. _

_That just sounds melodramatic. _

_It was. _

_Why can't head and heart ever consult over these things? You just go right ahead and make decisions. _

_You insist on over-analyzing. You would never fall in love if I left it up to you. _

_…but I'm not in love with Artemis. _

_Of course not. _

_Was that sarcasm?_

_Yes. _

_Screw you. _

_Think about it - did you really not notice anything in his eyes when he asked you to heal her?_

_Well, maybe. But it was more like a "hey, at least he isn't Satan" than a "I'm going to want to throw myself off something because of this boy in a few years."_

_There _is_ a rather large difference there. _

_...is it healthy to be talking to myself like this?_

_Probably not. _

0o0o0o0o0

Well, I was going to do a whole complicated flashback thingie detailing Holly's feelings when she saw Artemis's mother and how she pitied him and all that, but I fell into a plot hole and couldn't get out.

_Angeline Fowl wasn't in the Manor. _

Artemis had smuggled her out of the time field much earlier. Since he asked Holly for the healing before the bio-bomb went off and the magic deteriorated, she would still be gone. Even if Holly simply sent out a "strong positive magical charge" or whatever it was, she would have still wanted to examine the woman's symptoms, not shoot in the dark. So that was pretty much impossible. Fail, Colfer! And let's not even go into the fact that Butler was knocked out twice and he stayed _inside_ the field. Really, it's ridiculous.

So yeah, that's why there's no touchy-feely A/H bit in here. Sorry.

Next chapter: Jasper's comeback and Artemis's hamster. (No, that was not a typo.)


	21. Chapter 21

Well, if you don't like depressiveness you shouldn't be here. And you should have gotten the hint a loooooooooooong time ago.

0o0o0o0o0

It was an old pattern. She knew she was spiraling downward, but she didn't have the strength to care. The brief year-and-a-half interruption of the painful monotony was over. Maybe she had always known it would end. Some people were just too good to be true.

For the first month she was at the LEP, Jasper actually avoided contact, instead watching from doorways, wondering that she didn't flinch at his presence, trying to figure out the reason for this sudden regression.

So she waited for him to have the flash of understanding, when he realized that if Fowl was why she had healed, only he could break her.

She ate, slept, worked. She performed the definition of the word "live," but she didn't display signs of actually being a person, not a robot.

She knew this all too well - she had done it all before. The familiar feel of this depression made it no easier to bear.

Then Jasper came back, new and improved, ready to drive her and her human genes back into the ground.

If there was a tenth circle of hell, that was where Holly currently was. And that was where she stayed, functioning on the bare minimum, for twelve months.

0o0o0o0o0

"Arty? Arty, dear, your father and I need to speak to you."

Casting his eyes to heaven, the genius resisted the urge to groan. "Come in, Mother."

"Oh, I don't think - please, just come out here, Artemis."

Snarling through his teeth, he threw his protective gloves aside and took the liquid off the burner. His experiment would have to wait, yet again, because his mother assumed that he was simply playing in his lab, not actually conducting scientific research.

Exiting, but keeping his white coat on, he shut the door firmly behind him, then glanced up to see both his parents standing there. At the sight of his father, Artemis's shoulders automatically stiffened further, his head tilting back a fraction.

Angeline was holding a small box in her arms, but it was Artemis Senior who spoke first. "We've come to give you something, son," he said, a bit uncomfortably. His tone told Artemis that they had rehearsed this conversation, and that Timmy had not wanted to have it in the first place. Whatever was in that box, it was not going to be practical in any way.

Artemis inclined his head.

"Oh, don't be like that, Arty," his mother teased. "Here, open it."

As he took the box from his mother, Artemis briefly considered throwing it out a nearby window. But the childish urge passed, and with a mix of dread and curiosity he lifted the lid.

Inside... was a hamster.

He groaned. "Mother, honestly."

"You can use her in your experiments!" she cried, eager to please. "Your safe ones, anyway. And you need a pet, Arty, you really do."

He glanced at his father, who shrugged helplessly.

"Very well. Thank you."

"We have a cage for her, and everything you'll need. We haven't named her yet, you'll need to do that..."

Artemis looked down at the little animal in his hands, with its oddly reddish fur, and in a moment its pale gold eyes met his.

"Holly," he blurted without thinking.

"Holly?" Angeline asked, surprised. She had expected a name like "Lithium."

"Yes. It's short, doesn't have to be changed..." while his mind rattled off perfectly rational reasons why the name "Holly" was appropriate, he was completely perplexed by the affection he held for it. He couldn't recall ever meeting anyone with the name in his life.

And yet… when he said it, or even thought it, something shifted inside him. A tug at his heart, like there was someone he had let down, betrayed...

Artemis scoffed at the notion. Ridiculous. All these emotions were blurring the lines of his intelligence.

He had more important things to attend to.

0o0o0o0o0

Sorry that was short. I am planning book 4, so expect a slight delay.

At some point in the next book: a(nother) real A/H heart-to-heart, and what exactly Jasper did this time.


	22. Chapter 22

WOO! I had a ton of fun planning this, so lets get down to business. An estimated five chapters for TOD, with a LOT of difference in length, so expect schizophrenic updates. This has barely any actual plotline (it isn't set in Haven, so there's no Jasper, though there are the aftereffects of Jasper) so for all you guys out there asking for romance... Poof. Romance. And witty banter. Which I cannot think without the voice in my head saying it in an Irish accent. This also happens with the word "Butler." Screw Nathaniel Parker for having such a nice voice, and screw me for listening to the AF audiobooks.

0o0o0o0o0

_That's it? Those are my only instructions? Watch the Mud Boy for a couple weeks? _

_Who's gonna stop me from obsessively watching him sleep?_

_Who's gonna stop me from shadowing way too close?_

_Who's gonna stop me from crying outside his window?_

_Nobody, that's who. _

_Who's gonna drag me back to Haven?_

_I pity the fool. _

Now she just had to wait for the assignment to actually begin.

This would be tough.

0o0o0o0o0

Root quickly and methodically reviewed his life, and decided that while it could have been better, it had been pretty damn good.

He briefly considered asking Holly to say goodbye to Vinyaya for him, but dismissed the notion. He didn't want to distress either of them.

A thousand possibilities flashed through his head; things he could say, things he should say. But only one thing really mattered.

He cared for Holly deeply, but she was reckless. Without supervision, she could get seriously hurt.

And she and the Mud Boy... well, there was nothing anybody could do about where _that_ was headed, he saw it now. Too bad.

He stood, unwilling to meet his fate kneeling as though he had submitted. Holly would beat Koboi for him. Soon.

But his part of the show was over. He felt his numbered heartbeats tick away.

_I hope it isn't too painful_.

He raised his visor. "Be well."

And then there was a heat between his ribs, and everything seemed to fracture into scintillating shards of light and disperse into peace and darkness.

0o0o0o0o0

_Imagine this, I actually want to obey an order. _

_Gods, I hope he's still okay. If Artemis dies, I will not sleep until I have ripped Opal Koboi limb from limb with my bare hands. _

_If Butler dies..._

_Never mind. Butler is incapable of death. _

_But Artemis isn't so lucky. _

_Dear gods, if I find him dead...!_

Every one of her muscles tensed further as she spotted Munich approaching.

0o0o0o0o0

As they fell, Artemis closed his eyes, hoping that too many bones would not be broken at the bottom.

_I certainly hope I don't die. Holly would be upset. _

_Wait, what?_

And then they hit.

0o0o0o0o0

Artemis... dead? Artemis Fowl, gone?

A world without Artemis Fowl II... didn't seem like much of a world at all. Who would accidentally almost destroy it and then save it at the last minute? She couldn't do it on her own. She didn't _want_ to do it on her own.

Her career was over. Her friends thought she had betrayed the LEP and killed her commanding officer. Artemis and Butler were dead.

There was nothing left for her.

Why had she even tried to escape Opal's bio-bomb?

It was a very calm decision. When there is literally nothing to live for, after all, there is only one thing you can do.

Holly walked dazedly to the edge of the roof, looking down. Surely the fall would kill her. She could suppress her magic while she was still conscious and bleed out. If she threw herself down in the right way, maybe she would damage the part of the brain that housed magic, allowing her to join her friends in the quickest way possible.

_You aren't thinking clearly_, scolded a voice in her head. _You are blinded by grief. _

_Is this what Root would want for you? Is this what Arty would want for you?_

_Jeez, I wonder what happened to that shed. _

_Wait a sec_.

_Holy... Holy... Is that -_

She _did_ throw herself off then, activating her wings as she fell and coming to a slightly painful stop on the edge of the destroyed roof.

She looked down and saw two fogged, frightened blue eyes. Eyes she never thought she'd see again, except in her dreams. And she didn't even have those now.

He pushed himself up slightly, tried to speak. She saw something jab at the inside of his shirt, and he crumpled back onto his bodyguard's frame.

Dear gods, that was a _rib_.

Holly jumped down, splaying her fingers across his chest and pumping the magic in.

If she let him die, a good chunk of the fairy community - including most of the Council members - would be thrilled.

If she let him die, her people would not be threatened any longer by the possibility of his memory returning.

If she let him die, she might as well kill herself.

When the sparks stopped spiraling around his wounds, Holly wrapped her body around his as much as possible, shamelessly enjoying the way his head slid into the crook of her shoulder. She likely didn't have long to live, so she was going to enjoy every single second of what it had to offer.

0o0o0o0o0

The cham-pod was old, but it did have rudimentary security and provisions. She laid him gently on the cot, noting how his feet hung over the edge. Artemis was getting tall.

She brushed his hair back from his face.

_Slightly shorter than it was last time I saw him; no split ends; surprisingly soft; smells like some kind of spice. _

Her fingertips brushed his cheekbones.

_He still has the face of a boy. Soft, almost gentle when he's asleep. _

_But when he wakes up, he'll be different. Hard. Cold. The way he used to be. He doesn't remember me. _

Holly abruptly pushed away from his limp form. With detached care, she unbuttoned his dress shirt and pushed the front to either side, leaving the sleeves in place. She dragged up his T-shirt to examine his ribs.

_He is _scrawny, she thought.

He was impressively thin, but obviously whole. His bones had healed properly.

There was nothing left she could do.

0o0o0o0o0

_Dear Frond above, please take this jackass of a human and strike him with lighting so many times that when you're through there's nothing left but a little pile of ash, and then let a troll poop on that ash. _

Holly was very, very pissed off.

Most of her attraction and some of her affection for Artemis had completely dissipated, leaving her with a borderline cruel Mud Boy and two bad moods between them.

Not that there had been any attraction to begin with. He was a human. She was an elf. It was ridiculous, and she _wasn't even going to consider it_.

That didn't really stop her from considering it.

0o0o0o0o0

Author's Note:

I'm just going to assume that after they got back from the bank, Artemis changed from "normal teenager" clothes into slacks and a dress shirt, because Colfer wouldn't have stuck him in jeans and a hoodie for an entire novel.

And besides, bloodstains and dirt are SO much hotter on an impeccable dresser.

-ILoveFowl


	23. Chapter 23

Remember, guys… Arty actually did have a hamster. I'm just trying to imagine how that came about.

0o0o0o0o0

"As we speak, Butler will be making for Fowl Manor. He may already be there..."

Holly tuned out, considering. On one hand, they needed to get food and weaponry. On the other...

…Fowl Manor.

Huge. Imposing. Dangerous.

Did This Artemis know what was in the basement? Had Old Artemis taken out the cot, patched up the floor, tried to pretend that he had never kidnapped her?

She shuddered.

0o0o0o0o0

Narcissus Syndrome. Wow. They were in a potentially fatal position and all Arty could do was prattle on.

Of course, they were probably both in a bit of shock.

"Oh, for heavens sake, shut him up," Opal snapped.

The blue charge thudded into Artemis's chest as if in slow motion, and Holly felt as if she had dived for him before he began to fall. She didn't know what she was yelling at the pixie, and she stopped listening after she heard the words "not dead." Ripping open his shirt for the second time that day, she laid one hand on his chest and one at his neck.

She didn't know it yet, but when she was paying for everything else, Koboi would pay for this. It was an age-old rule that all enemies of the crime family respected, but that none of the fairies in that room knew - nobody took (or even pretended to take) a Fowl from his girl, or vice versa. Even if Holly wasn't _technically_ his, this rule should have been respected, because she sure as hell cared more for his well-being than she did for her own.

0o0o0o0o0

Being in a shuttle chase was no fun if you didn't act like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

"So." Mulch said. "How've things been with you?"

"Worse than I would have expected after the mind wipe. Artemis barely ever comes out of his lab, stays holed up in there all day. I have to drag him out just to get him to eat. His hamster sees him more than I do -"

The dwarf nearly crashed. "Hamster? Artemis Fowl has a _hamster_?! Small, fuzzy, cute little rodent? Are we thinking of the same thing here?"

The bodyguard chuckled. "That's what I thought when he told me. His parents gave it to him for company. I've caught him talking to her a few times."

"What's the poor thing's name? Lithium?"

"Holly."

The shuttle actually did bounce off the tunnel wall then, jolting both men. "_What_?!"

"I doubt it means anything, Mulch..."

"Of course it means something! I knew this would happen! I guessed it ever since he came up into Koboi Labs and said he had to help her! I knew it I knew it I knew it!"

"Knew _what_?"

"He _likes_ her! He's got a little crush on the fairy!"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not! You should have seen him when Juliet pulled her off the rock-climbing wall! Yelled louder than anybody I've ever heard and jumped about ten feet in the air! Freaked the heck out of himself! The evidence is endless! We can ask them! I guarantee you, they'll turn red and tell me not to be stupid but _you will be able to tell-_"

"Mulch. Shut up."

It wasn't that Butler was irritated with him or didn't want to hear any more; it was just that the dwarf's voice had risen exponentially along the course of his rant and was now high-pitched enough to wake the dead.

"Fine, be that way. But mark my words-"

"Mulch..."

"Shutting up now."

0o0o0o0o0

"Make all the jokes you want, Mud Boy. Words are all you have now."

Holly growled. The growl said pretty clearly: Don't touch him.

"Oh," Opal said softy. "Does my being this close to your _boyfriend_ scare you, Short?"

Artemis shot Holly a wild look.

Barely shaking her head to indicate that no, they had _not_ been in a relationship, she said, "Yes, it does, actually. Could you maybe take a few biiiiiiiig steps back? Like, twenty?"

The pixie regarded her with malicious intent. "You know, I'm a bit impatient. It'll take several minutes to reach our destination, at least half an hour to get you inside, and then I have to wait for you to die. So..." crossing the room to a cabinet standing against the opposite wall, Opal withdrew an old-fashioned key from her pocket and unlocked the top door. When she turned back around, Holly felt the bottom drop out of her stomach.

The black metal implement was clearly too large for the pixie, but that didn't stop her from hefting it in two hands and flicking the safety off.

Opal stroked the gun lovingly. "Now… who would it hurt more to see the other die?"

"That was a grammatical nightmare," Holly whispered, suddenly ice cold.

"You know, I think it would be worse for you, Holly. After all, he doesn't remember you so he doesn't really care. You, on the other hand, have been overly affectionate from the start. So…" she trailed off in favor of stalking toward Artemis.

Holly strained against the restraints binding her to the chair. "You're insane, Opal!" she screamed, almost breaking her elbows as she tried to snap her bonds. "Stay away from him! Don't touch - _NO! MOVE AWAY! KILL ME! KILL ME!_ _Please_! Please," she sobbed, breaking down, begging the megalomaniac. This was the second time there had been a gun against Artemis's head in her presence. Both times, it had been Koboi's fault.

Holly briefly wondered why the Mud Boy was so calm. But then, he would seem calm if there was a tsunami about to hit.

"Please, Opal. I'll do anything."

The other fairy cocked her head. "You really want me to kill you instead, don't you?"

Not trusting her tongue, Holly nodded, cursing the tears on her cheeks.

Koboi lowered the weapon, advancing toward the elf.

Holly closed her eyes. The last thing she saw was Artemis looking at her in shock.

Te last thing she felt was a cold, metallic circle pressing into her forehead.

The creak of the trigger being pulled back was the last thing she would ever hear -

"Miss Koboi? We've arrived."

"Just a _second_, Descant, I am in the middle of a murder..."

"Sorry."

The door shut, and footsteps pattered away. Holly slit one eye. Artemis was on the edge of his seat, fingers gripping the armrests. He was clearly unsure whether speaking would help or hurt the situation. Opal looked pensive.

"As much as I would love to do this," she said at length, "I have to admit that watching you watch each other die in a much more… gruesome way will be more satisfying... and after all, we're already here." She snapped their cuffs open with a voice command. "Follow me."

0o0o0o0o0

Did I scare you? Huh? Huh?

Next chapter: Artemis (FINALLY) redeems himself, and we all know that a grasp of the shoulder isn't enough when your friend has just regained his memories...


	24. Chapter 24

Valhalla: the Viking heaven. A warrior could only enter if he died a brave death in battle.

0o0o0o0o0

This... was _not_ the way Holly Short had envisioned her inevitable death.

Oh, sure, it had been fairly likely that trolls would be involved.

Goblins, maybe.

Perhaps a pod crash.

Sickness.

A human poacher, like her father.

If she was lucky, maybe she would have died of old age in bed, with Foaly, who would look barely older, sitting beside her.

But sitting on the roof of an Eleven Wonders exhibit, a mind-wiped human beside her, and at least twenty trolls ripping her apart? That death… wouldn't exactly get you into Valhalla, let's just say.

Holly grasped his left hand in hers, curling her right arm around his shoulders. "Close your eyes, Artemis," she whispered into his shirt. "You won't feel a thing." Funny. She could never just say "goodbye" when it was needed.

He let his head roll back - looking to the surface? - and parted his lips to say something, but he went tense and his eyes popped open instead.

"Okay," he muttered dejectedly. "Now I _know_ I'm hallucinating."

0o0o0o0o0

She sat at the table with Butler and Mulch, crunching quietly on field rations. A small pile had been set aside for Artemis - if he _ever_ came out of that bathroom…

"So, statistically," she said after a while, "how many more times can I get out of a completely inescapable situation before the universe gets sick of me beating the odds all the time and just kills me off with a bolt of lightning?"

"Hit by lightning?" Butler cracked. "Come on, Holly, what are the chances of that?"

It felt good to laugh.

"Really, I shouldn't tempt fate..." she returned.

"About time you got your head in order," she heard Mulch say off to her right. "I need to get into that bathroom urgently."

Holly glanced up, confused, and saw her young human friend stooping in the doorway.

He looked different.

His brow was clear, not scowling from mental strain. His shoulders were relaxed, his muscles less tense. He stood taller, and was actually _smiling_.

_Huh_, she thought, reaching for her juice absently._ I wonder what-_

"Good to see you too, Mulch," he replied a bit sarcastically.

Holly froze solid. "You remember him?" she heard herself whisper.

His smirk widened into a _wonderful_ grin, and he turned captivating, sparkling blue eyes on her. "Of course, Holly," he teased, and when he said her name he _really_ said it, the way he used to say it, making her feel like a ton of gold. "We have known each other for more than two years."

Holly jumped from her seat, throwing her arms around his waist and knocking them both into the wall. "Took you long enough!" she said, squeezing. "But honestly, Artemis, it's great to see you. The real you. The gods know we need Artemis Fowl right now." It was all she could do to remain coherent - 'professional' had gone out the window about halfway through the first Koboi incident.

"Well, he's here and ready for duty, Captain," the boy laughed, obviously elated at his scheme's success.

She quizzed him on his knowledge, snorted at his self-importance, giggled at his occasional exaggerated formalities. She nodded along, trading confused glances with the other passengers, when he got too into it and started using six-syllable words.

Sure, they now had to overcome the smartest and most evil fairy the Lower Elements had to offer, but hey, they had done it before.

And with Artemis Fowl leading them…

Opal looked a whole lot less scary.

0o0o0o0o0

"So," Holly commented once they got flying again. "Mulch says you have a hamster. He told me to ask you what it's name is."

Artemis almost asked her not to disturb his thinking, but decided that one question couldn't hurt much "Her na-"

When he didn't continue for several seconds, she turned to see what was the matter.

He was quite literally gaping at her, jaw sagging, shock written all over his features. Then, suddenly, it all went back to normal, and he leaned back in his seat, covering his face with a hand, his head hitting the headrest with a _whump_. "I completely forgot," he said in disbelief, trailing his fingers through his hair. "Even after I met you again, all the excitement made it completely slip my mind…"

"Made _what_ slip your mind? You aren't making sense, Artemis..."

He turned to her, obviously unsure what her reaction to his news would be. "Her name is Holly."

She raised her eyebrows. "Wow."

"Wow, Holly?"

"Honestly, Mud Boy," the elf went on, completely enjoying this. "So sentimental. What happened to cold and aloof?"

"Oh, you're one to talk," he shot back. "Who ran crying from the room because of one little human getting mindwiped?"

Her head snapped towards him, mouth popping open, perfectly ready to snap back an angry retort, but his twinkling eyes, quite understandably, derailed her.

So she punched him instead.

It felt _really_ good.

0o0o0o0o0

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, FFnet was giving me sass. I have showed it who's boss, and it is suitably cowed.


	25. Chapter 25

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I have been pretty under the weather the past few days. But now that I am actually bedridden, I have plenty of free time on my hands, though this might lower the quality of my work slightly.

0o0o0o0o0

As usual, there was a split second of "oh, dear, she's going to hit me" between seeing her fist move and actually feeling the impact. In this time, Artemis usually sent her a beseeching look, appealing to her possibly-nonexistent sense of pity.

This time, when his wide eyes connected with her smiling ones, hers were a bright green.

He smirked as he took the blow. _So what_ exactly _turns you on? You've offered me a puzzle, Holly…_

_Challenge accepted. _

0o0o0o0o0

"So if we find a patch of space without the usual ambient gases…"

"Then we've found the stealth shuttle," Holly responded, flabbergasted.

She stared at the dashboard for a few seconds, overcome by the sheer simplicity of his plan, coupled with the sheer _genius_-

Looking over to comment, the fairy suddenly found every word stuck in her throat.

Artemis was completely focused, pianist's fingers dancing over the screens and through holograms, thin eyebrows slightly furrowed over deep blue eyes. His intelligence shone through his every feature, from the way he sucked his bottom lip to the way his shoulders rolled forward as he balanced himself over the dash.

Holly glanced back at those _long_ fingers and swallowed hard, a wave of _something_ washing over her, burying her good sense and setting her skin aflame. _What is happening to me? _she wondered, rubbing at her forehead. I haven't felt this way since… well, ever. It must just be the stress.

The genius noticed her discomfort, and paused in his investigation to glance over. "Are you all right?" he inquired mildly, making a few more tongues of fire shoot down her spine.

The elf's mouth popped open at the sound of his voice, which was very...

...different.

"Holly, are you okay?"

Nodding dumbly, she tried to articulate. "Your... accent... when you get nervous, or flustered, it kind of... gets Irisher."

As she stumbled over her words, he calmly watched her eyes grow a deeper and deeper emerald. "Really?" he asked, deliberately emphasizing his homeland's lilt.

That seemed to obliterate her capacity for speech.

_Well, I suppose she is under a lot of stress at the moment_, Artemis rationalized as he turned back to the shuttle's computer. _I really can't take her reactions now for granted later._

_I think. _

0o0o0o0o0

Holly fidgeted nervously as Butler threw grenade after grenade into the abyss. "Artemis?"

The boy had clambered back into the copilot's seat and turned away from the window, preferring the sight of the elf to the sight of the explosions. "Yes, Holly?"

"Do you think this is going to work?"

He frowned. "I already told you we have a sixty-four percent chance of-"

"I don't mean statistics," she sighed. "Do _you_ think this is going to work?"

There she went again, dragging him out of his genius shell. Asking for his guesswork. His opinion. He was a genius; he should operate on tangible evidence and hard fact alone, no feelings required.

But he was also human.

She was proof enough of that.

If he had managed to lock all his emotions in a metal safe and never think of them again, he wouldn't feel a protectiveness for this quirky little elf. He wouldn't examine her feelings and alter how he treated her accordingly. He wouldn't engage in useless conversations just because.

"I can only hope," he told her.

She nodded. Trusting him.

Which somehow made him guilty.

0o0o0o0o0

Following Trouble back to Haven was a bit embarrassing and a bit amusing. Everyone in the shuttle felt like they had been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, despite having just saved two worlds.

After docking, actually entering Police Plaza was almost funny. Stares followed the group through several hallways and into a large, plain room.

"You'll have to stay here," Kelp said apologetically. "The Council is already reviewing your case, but it's definitely going to take a while."

They nodded, all completely ready for a break. "Is there any food?" Mulch asked.

The elf pointed to a doorway in reply. He hugged Holly, murmuring something in her ear, and left.

"Gods, he's so sentimental," Holly scoffed once the door had closed.

Artemis raised an eyebrow in question.

"He said 'I'm glad you aren't a traitor.' And he tried to sound like he was joking, but I'm pretty sure he was tearing up."

Everyone simultaneously snorted.

0o0o0o0o0

It took a while, but eventually new clothes were found for them all (except Butler) and they were, at the very least, clean and safe.

Butler set about checking security on the little three-room "cell" that they currently occupied.

Mulch set about demolishing the contents of the fridge in the next room.

Which left Artemis, in a slightly too small white shirt and slacks, and Holly, in her own pale blue drape-neck shirt and jeans.

He let himself simply memorize her for a moment, gaze flicking over her face and long neck, drifting down to her collarbone -

He sat straight up and grabbed her upper arm, jerking her over to him so he could see the scars over her right collarbone more carefully.

When she realized what he was doing, Holly started and blushed, one hand coming up to cover the white letters. "Artemis-"

"_Jasper_," he snarled in reply, hot anger flushing out rational thought. His fingers locked around her wrist, pulling it away so he could again read the Gnommish.

In the same way as the "Mudblood" on her arm, a word had been carved into her flesh just above this delicate bone. Only four letters, but just as insulting.

_Fowl_.

"I swear to you," he whispered, "I will make him pay. Dearly."

"You don't have to do that, it's my own damn fault-"

"No. It isn't. It's his. Never doubt that, Holly."

"I…" she trailed off, uncertain.

Artemis grasped her hands in his, catching her eye. "Everything he's done to you... None of that is your fault. It is _all_ on him. Please, if you trust me at all, believe that."

She hesitated a moment longer, then nodded. But she didn't quite believe.

0o0o0o0o0

It pained him to see her cry, but he shunted his own distress to the side. Finding that his hand on her shoulder was doing nothing to calm her, and realizing with frustration that he had no handkerchief, he opted for awkwardly curling one arm around her shoulders and dabbing the tears off her face with the hem of his shirt. "Julius would be proud of you," he said, along with other words of encouragement and comfort, but he knew his attempts were relatively futile. Nothing he could say would bring back her commander.

Nonetheless, she leaned into his embrace. That was something.

0o0o0o0o0

I am posting this now because I am horribly guilty for not giving you all anything for, like, three whole days now. My sincerest apologies.

Next chapter: Holly's resignation, Artemis's KO by Sool's men, and that first communicator conversation. Not to be the last.


	26. Chapter 26

Has anybody wondered how exactly Artemis and Butler got back into their own beds? Fairies couldn't go inside the Manor, and Holly wasn't part of the operation because she had resigned, so...?

0o0o0o0o0

Oddly enough, the first thing that went through his mind was _Funny. I didn't think the word 'quit' was in her vocabulary_.

Foaly, understandably, was agitated, Sool was smug, Mulch was fairly shocked, and Butler was unhappy.

Artemis understood her choice. That wasn't to say he liked it, but he knew how she felt. Crushed by her superiors.

The PI business, and taking the dwarf as her partner, was a bit more surprising, but still not amazing.

Asking him to be a consultant was fairly expected. And would be the root of teasing on both sides later, no doubt.

He somewhat envied Butler when Holly walked into the huge bodyguard's bear hug, but then again, Artemis himself wasn't exactly the most huggable person on earth.

So there was only one thing left to do: annoy the bad guy.

Artemis sent a withering gaze toward the tall gnome, and internally smirked when he jumped behind his guards. "Congratulations, Commander: you've managed to alienate the LEP's finest officer."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Holly blush.

Sool said "Send them home. Now," and Artemis knew his time was up. He turned, tossing one last smile at Holly as he felt the knockout pellet hit his neck.

He watched as the elf leaped forward, catching him at the elbow and around the waist. She yelled at the LEP officers that she was now not one of, and with the last of his strength the boy reached up, grasping her chin, and returned her gaze to his. He smirked gently.

She smiled back, brushing his hair away from his face, then trailed her hand down to his chest, slipping something into the pocket beneath his jacket. He felt a warm tingle that had nothing to do with her body heat.

Holly watched him frown slightly and try to open his mouth, but his eyes fluttered shut and he surrendered to the sleep.

0o0o0o0o0

As promised, Artemis called back five hours later. Sort of.

"You are thirty seconds late," Holly said by way of greeting, shaking a finger at him. "In the time since we talked earlier, Mulch and Doodah helped me with the signal on this thing."

"Legally, of course?"

Holly flushed and avoided his eyes. "Well, this isn't exactly legal in the first place, is it?"

"I'm ashamed of you, Holly," he said, shaking his head. "I thought you were better than this."

"Oh, you're one to talk," she returned.

Chuckling, Artemis spread his hands, admitting defeat. "I have changed," he admitted. "Check the home page of the Louvre web site."

Frowning in consternation, the elf leaned away from the camera, revealing that she was wearing a black tanktop and grey sweatpants. Pulling a laptop onto her knees, she flipped it open and typed for a few seconds, then toggled a key, scrolling down.

She read for a few seconds, then brought a hand up to cover her mouth. "Oh, _Artemis_," she said, beaming at him. "That's... I would say I'm proud of you, but I'd sound like a schoolteacher."

He smiled. _Look at that, incentive for me_.

"So, do you have any ideas for me? And your consultant's bill?"

"Come now, can't we just make small talk for an hour of so?"

She groaned halfheartedly. "Fine, but just an hour," she agreed.

Nevertheless, they were there long into the night.

0o0o0o0o0

Yes, it was short. Suck it up, I'm working on it.

There might be a chapter set between the books, but that isn't planned yet, so all I can tell you is that the next book will feature: a VERY perceptive Vinyaya, Holly's new jumpsuit, and intellectual catfights.


	27. Chapter 27

The full moon was beautiful, Artemis mused, gazing out his window. He didn't presume to comprehend Holly's attraction to it, but he could certainly appreciate its aesthetic qualities.

Pulling a robe around himself, he strode out to his balcony, still deep in thought. Where was she now? Perhaps flying far out across the sea, headed for some old oak, perhaps below the ground, lounging lazily around in her room, reading Sherlock Holmes. Again.

Sighing, he turned to reenter his bedroom - it was cold outside - but paused. Something was off.

He looked again, and saw the anomaly that had caught his eye. A pebble on the little table to his right. How would a rock have gotten two stories up...?

He lifted it. There was a piece of paper underneath.

_Be here. Next month_.

She couldn't have called? Texted? _Really_?

Elves...

0o0o0o0o0

Over the next thirty days, the two of them playfully didn't mention the note at all, pretending that nothing had happened.

He did, however, notice a constantly preoccupied and unhappy look on her face, and several fresh scars on her neck and shoulders.

So he plotted. And waited.

And laughed quietly to himself at Jasper's futile struggles.

0o0o0o0o0

Eventually, the full moon returned. And Artemis found himself wide awake at midnight, as usual. But it was a more frenzied 'awake' than was typical of him, as though he had just drunk an entire pot of coffee.

Blue silk rustled under a thick black robe, soft slippers padded out to the balcony.

He entangled himself in complicated theorems, preferring to explain those to himself instead of the anxious anticipation gnawing at his stomach.

He entangled himself a little too deeply, and almost missed her arrival. Noticing at the last second the slightest shimmer out of the corner of his eye, he swiveled on one heel, tilted his head to one side graciously, and smiled. "Hello, Holly. You've managed to get a full moon surface visa - two months in a row. Care to explain how and why?"

She flashed into the visible spectrum, pouting cutely. "Why can't you just let me startle you? Just once?"

He raised his hands helplessly. "Genius."

"Humph. But to answer you, Jazz's been pretty nasty lately, and Foaly and Trouble pulled a few subtle strings so I can power up every month."

"What's _He_ been doing?" Artemis asked in a low tone, folding his arms.

"Oh, just the usual - he's been a bit preoccupied, though," Holly said suspiciously. "There's something wrong with his computer."

The Irish boy resisted the urge to grin and raised his eyebrows innocently instead. "Really? Do tell."

"Well, his work computer crashed a couple of weeks ago," she began, watching carefully for his reaction. "Some really rare virus. Not too strange in and of itself, but it took out his work and only his, didn't spill over to any connected network. So he got a new computer, but within a week _that_ one was out too. So Foaly was baffled, and wondered if it might be something about his office. So they moved him to a different one, got him a state-of-the-art protected laptop… two hours later, _fshhhhhhhh_," she finished, miming a meltdown with her hands. "Gone."

"How very odd," Artemis commented lightly.

"Artemis..."

"Hmmm?"

"Why do I get the feeling that you already knew all this?"

He turned wide eyes on her. "Now, Holly," he said breathily, "if I already knew, why would I have asked? That's hardly logical."

They faced each other down a few moments more, then the genius found he couldn't take it anymore. His triumphant grin broke through the mask of calm curiosity.

"I knew it!" Holly shrieked, jumping off the edge of the table and shaking him by the arms. "I knew it! You little..." She broke off, laughing.

"I couldn't resist," he replied, holding up his hands. "I hope he doesn't figure it out and take his anger out on you."

"Eh, whatever. His face was worth it."

They thoroughly exhausted every topic they could think of, losing track of time altogether. From boy bands (mutually revolting) to dark chocolate (universally wonderful) conversation just seemed natural. Two hugely different people somehow found a way to fit.

To fit together.

0o0o0o0o0

I know, I know, the ending was weak. Sorry.


	28. Chapter 28

The multi-mixer closed in, so loud she could feel it to her core. Holly looked up, toward the surface. Toward Artemis. There was no point in continuing to hide what she felt for him. It didn't matter now.

_It's a_ _full moon in three days. I would have seen him._

_What was the last thing I said to him? _

_Goodbye, Arty, I really like you..._

Then the blades stopped.

_Ah. Let's just... pretend that last little mental monologue never happened. _

0o0o0o0o0

"You want something? I'll give you something. Two words. Care to hazard a guess at what they are?"

Holly grinned so hard she thought her face might crack. So, he'd done it again. Set off some crazy plan that would push her to the edge of her limits and beyond, emotionally bamboozle her, and then screech to a halt so fast she didn't know what had hit her.

"Artemis Fowl," she whispered.

0o0o0o0o0

"Aaaaaaand," Vinyaya said, "Let's see... Your size..." she pulled a jumpsuit out of the rack. "Here."

Holly took it, examining the fabric. "It looks... different."

"It should. It's a female form, unlike your LEP suit, so it'll fit you better, it's a different cloth, and it's more technologically advanced."

"It looks so tight."

The older elf smiled wickedly. "Oh, it is."

Holly frowned. "I can't imagine you tolerating something this form-fitting, why...?"

"Fowl."

"_What_?!"

Vinyaya turned sarcastic cat eyes on her favorite subordinate. "I saw the look on your face when you said his name. And he's a teenager, Captain - let me have my fun. I imagine it'll be enjoyable for you, too."

Who could argue with that? She was pretty sure Artemis had recently hit puberty, she'd noticed his voice had been getting deeper (like it needed it, really - it was already _Irish_) during their late-night conversations and the planes of his face had hardened, cheekbones now thin and prominent. He was turning into a fairly attractive young Mud Man - not that she was about to mention that to him. Or out loud within ten miles of him.

"I am going to regret this later," she pointed out.

"Later," agreed Vinyaya.

She deliberated a moment longer, then took the suit.

0o0o0o0o0

Artemis felt the ring on his finger buzz and smiled, twisting it around and holding his hand to his ear. "Holly?"

"It's me," his friend's voice came through the tiny speakers. "I'm almost there."

Artemis blinked, then smiled. So, Foaly has finally caught on.

When she materialized, he didn't really pay her suit much attention except to note that it was new. But when she unfolded her body, stretching out in the human-sized seat, and removed her gleaming black helmet, hormones took over.

In the past, Holly had worn a small size of the LEP men's uniform. The result had been somewhat misfitting. But now...

The jumpsuit clung to her curves, and dear Frond, she had a _lot_ more curves than he had ever bothered to notice before. The material seemed to absorb all light, capturing it and casting her in a sort of skintight shadow. He could make out every iron muscle in her arms, and knee-high boots gripped her calves. Her torso and hips were in a slight hourglass formation, and her modest chest stretched the fabric tight, helped by the zipper resting just an inch under her collarbone.

Her old suit had been fairly unflattering. This... it could be described as... _slinky_.

And D'Arvit, she was _so_ small. The scales of her suit shifted maddeningly with her every twitch, emphasizing how tiny those twitches were, and how compact she was. Her whole body had danger and magic lurking just beneath the surface, taunting him.

Artemis decided that Holly had been born to be a ninja. There was no alternate explanation for just how good this suit looked.

She glanced up at him, and it was the same thing all over again. Her features were familiar, yet he felt as though he had never seen them as he looked again with new eyes.

Her face was a soft oval, tracing down into a sharp chin. A slim, slightly hooked nose that scrunched up when she was confused sat squarely in the center, between two large chameleon eyes with long lashes that fluttered whenever he managed to turn her irises green, and her lips...

...dear God.

How had he not noticed this before?!

Her lips were a perfect cherry red. Soft-looking. A full double curve, just asking to be kissed.

He was distracted by her hand rising up, fingers trailing through her hair. It was already messy from being in a helmet, and her thin, clever digits flicked it into some form of controlled chaos that made look even better-

"Afternoon, Mud Boys," she said. She made eye contact for the first time and Artemis about lost his mind.

Butler elbowed him in the back, making sure the movement was hidden from the elf's view. His charge was, for once, speechless, and it didn't take a Fowl to figure out why. So the bodyguard took it upon himself to reply to Holly and veer the conversation towards her suit - something Artemis could lecture about.

Of course, that wasn't how it went. When Holly mentioned smart wafers, the teenager saw an opening to satisfy his sudden urge to touch her, and gently seized her shoulder, leaning closer and "examining her suit" - more likely imagining what was beneath it.

They fell into their old patterns of verbal sparring, but Butler hadn't lived with Fowls all his life for nothing - he knew when someone was trying to hide something, and both Holly and Artemis were displaying the telltale signs.

Maybe there's something mutual here, he thought. Interesting.

Butler greeted his fairy friend and shifted the discussion to her helmet, making a point of sending a meaningful look Artemis's way whenever she was distracted.

Finally, the boy got irritated. "Excuse me, Captain. Are you two going to weep salty tears of admiration over a helmet all night, or do we have matters to discuss?"

Unseen by him, Holly stuck a gloved fist in her mouth, laughing.

Artemis enjoyed her silhouette as she drifted backward, settling into the seat beside him.

She looked straight into his eyes, and his heart stopped again. And as if that wasn't enough, her words - "Okay, Mud Boy, I'm all yours."

He imagined the literal ramifications of that sentence, and almost groaned aloud. _All his_.

His reply was a bit too brisk, and the fire in her eyes dimmed a little, making him panic. Get yourself under control, man, he thought. You know you can manipulate her feelings without even trying; be a little more delicate!

So he opened his top two shirt buttons - smirking widely at the way her eyes snapped to his chest and widened a little - and pulled out his coin.

Holly grinned. _He still has it!_

Butler, who had seen the whole thing, sighed miserably. _This is not going to end well._

0o0o0o0o0

I am not dead! I was having major writer's block in the bit where Artemis is studying Holly (very very closely), ironically, because I was totally looking forward to writing that. So I write a chapter for 12 Days of Valentines instead, then tried again.


	29. Chapter 29

Artemis paced back and forth, his momentary mooning over his fellow juvenile genius having vanished in a heartbeat.

_Odd. I was in a daze for minutes after seeing Holly in that new suit, yet attraction to my own species seemed to last no time at all. But of course, Holly is far prettier. _

_Wait. What?_

He put it out of his mind.

_Please, Minerva, do what I predict you will. I like you, I wish to know you better, but if you harm one red hair on that elf's head, I will be forced to loathe you for all time. _

He bit his lip. _Though I may be too busy grieving. After all, if she is injured, it will not be only slightly_.

0o0o0o0o0

Artemis had known that Holly was acquainted with the smuggler, but apparently he had been rather seriously left out of the loop on something, because after Mulch and the newcomer were done bickering his friend stepped forward, folded her arms, and said firmly, "You could have killed me, pixie."

Artemis was off his guard and therefore not completely to blame for his eyes popping wide and frame going rigid. Holly was perhaps the only one who didn't notice his look of shock, due to the fact that he was behind her. Doodah's first reaction was amusement, but when the human collected himself and sent a devastating glare his way, the little fairy decided that fear was a much more intelligent emotion.

As the story unfolded, Artemis's resentment for the pixie grew. And indeed, in later years, the two would never become close; the human never quite got over the fact that Day had almost hurt - and had intentionally frightened - Holly.

0o0o0o0o0

Holly lay flat on her back on the hillside, trying not to think about the dwarf and pixie hurtling through the earth. "I hope they don't hurt the boy," she said aloud, partially to herself.

Artemis paused in his manipulation of the virtual keyboard attaching to his ring. "I'm sure that all of them will be fine. Mulch is a professional in his field. Doodah has clear orders and a strong incentive. Minerva won't harm the imp; she wants a Nobel prize, not a dissection."

The elf let out an involuntary distressed squeak.

The genius ground his teeth, suddenly disliking Minerva with a fiery passion. He reached out, gripping Holly's shoulder tightly. "_No one_ will be harmed. I _promise_ you."

She looked at him apprehensively, but nodded. She would have to be a tough-as-steel LEP officer soon, going all mushy now wasn't going to be of any help.

But she still wanted to fall into Artemis's arms and make him tell her again and again that everything would be okay.

0o0o0o0o0

Doodah and Mulch stood rather awkwardly off to one side while Artemis spoke to the human girl on the phone.

"He's... A bit scary," the pixie understated.

Mulch snorted. "You think he's scary now, you should have seen him two years ago. Most terrifying person on or under Earth when he wants to be, and if his Holly is in danger, believe you me, he wants to be."

"_His_ Holly? They aren't..." Doodah had noted the human's expression when he discovered the LEP officer's near-death experience with the multi-mixer, but he had supposed that it was just anger at the threatening of an ally.

"Nah. But they both want to be, you can tell. The looks they shoot each other when they aren't looking; it's revolting. I wish they would get married and get it over with."

Day was in disbelief. "An elf and a _human_? I heard Short wasn't exactly a by-the-Book kind of officer but really, surely she would have more sense than that. He'll die hundreds of years before she will!"

"It doesn't matter to either of them. And if anybody can cheat Death, it's Fowl."

Doodah looked at the pale boy again, and he believed it.

"Don't get your powers in a knot, pixie. It ain't any of our business. I jus' like to gossip about it."

Pixie? Addressing someone by their species was a blatant sign of friendship and respect. Day shot the dwarf a quizzical glance.

"Oh, don't lookit me like that, I don't want a touchy-feely moment. You're not _that_ bad a guy, tha's all," Mulch explained, trying to be terse. "And maybe you'd be useful every once in a while."

"Thank you. I'm sure you're very...er...useful too, when..."

"Ah, give it up, you aren't any good at compliments. Just don't go trying to hex me and I won't eat you anymore."

Doodah blinked, then agreed.

0o0o0o0o0

I'm sorry for the total lack of plot advancement. The next of that will come I think in the next chapter, and the next big plot thingie will be between books five and six. For now, I'll just choke you with fluff.


	30. Chapter 30

Thirty? THIRTY?! Dafuq is going on here? Since when do I have the focus to keep a fic going for thirty chapters?

Anyway, to answer a couple of questions:

I realize that this is getting fluffy. I haven't found an opportunity to add in Jasper or any other ambient dark elements, so by default it has been more cutesy. I assure you this will change. There is a big semi-dark emotional plot-forwarding scene planned for between TLC and TTP.

No, Mulch and Doodah are not going to end up in a relationship. Sorry. Mulch will, however, end up with a girlfriend - and not an OC, either. Curious?

And by the way: yes, I realize that the last chapter was totally out of chronological order. I failed. :(

0o0o0o0o0

Holly was unabashedly eavesdropping on Artemis's conversation.

_You hacked into the audio feed? _Foaly's voice came through remarkably high-quality speakers. _What else can that phone of yours do?_

For a second, Artemis and Holly made eye contact. He grinned. "It can play solitaire and minesweeper," he replied innocently.

The elf stuffed a fist in her mouth to stifle her giggles. Artemis had the best sense of humor at the most inopportune moments.

0o0o0o0o0

_I don't like this. _

_I can't move. _

_I'm trapped._

_In the basement of a child genius. _

_I liked it better the first time. _

The elf dropped her head back, groaning. Now that she had a peaceful moment, there was no ignoring or pushing away the feelings that had crept up on her. The words of Fitzwilliam Darcy flitted through her head, unbidden: _"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I realized I had begun."_

She sighed_. Why did I read Pride and Prejudice? It's too much like my situation now. _

_Damn you, Fowl. _

Regardless, there was no getting around it. She was romantically attached to Artemis Fowl the Second.

She shivered.

There were some glaringly obvious problems. The fact that he was underage. The fact that he would die long before her time came. That he was almost twice her height. They saw each other only once a month. He had likely never thought of her that way.

Why would he? He had _Minerva_.

She scowled. And, absurdly, her eyes burned.

She was _not_ going to cry over him!

"Stupid Mud Girl," she whispered, blinking hard. "You would never appreciate his true self..."

When she closed her eyes, she could see his image on her lids. His secret smiles that he shot her whenever he had the chance, that mischievous look on his face right before he did something hilarious, the hint of a twinkle in his eye when he was deliberately confusing her. Everything.

_Gods. What am I doing? He's a kid. _

_He's never really been a kid. If he wanted a relationship with you, his age wouldn't be a problem. _

She gasped at that mental image, squirming in her seat. He would be so gentle with her, so careful. Running his fingers through her hair and down her face, kissing her softly...

Suddenly, in her mind's eye, her hair turned long, curly, and gold, glasses appeared on her nose, and she grew a foot and a half.

_No_...

Minerva could hold an intelligent conversation with him, help him with experiments and inventions. She would understand him on a human level, would grow old and die with him. She could marry him.

Holly could not.

She gave a little shuddery gasp. _No. I will conquer this. _

0o0o0o0o0

The one question she absolutely did not want to hear while he was plotting.

_Holly, do you trust me?_

_Artemis, don't ask me that..._

It was a reasonable response. But Holly was thinking. If she was honest with them both, then yes, absolutely. But did she trust him enough to tell him that she trusted him? Did she trust him with her trust? Trust him not to take that and run with it?

Well... yeah.

"Yes. I do. More than anyone."

Was it her imagination, or did he look slightly awed after she told him? Amazed that anyone could say that he, ex-criminal, was the most reliable person they knew?

Surprise, Arty.

0o0o0o0o0

Of course they were able to rent a private jet from a discreet friend of Butler's. The fairies were less than happy about their disguises, but it couldn't be helped - and if he had the choice, Artemis wouldn't exchange Holly's track suit for the world. Partly because it annoyed her and she was doing the scrunching thing with her nose again, but mostly because the zipper was slightly defective, and kept...slipping. Downward. On occasion, fairly far downward.

Holly had cracked open her little plexiglass sphere just outside the airport, inserting the acorn inside into a little patch of grass next to the hangar. "Remind me," she had said to a curious Fowl as the sparks fluttered out of the soil and zoomed around her, "to show you a real Ritual sometime."

"Real?" Artemis has inquired politely, wondering if it was rude to stare.

"Yup. Full moon and all. It's fairly impressive. Maybe next month I'll fly you out to site 57 - yes, _that_ Ritual site - and you can see."

"Ah," he had replied, a bit discombobulated by the magic seeping into her.

Now, she was something of a mess, hair tousled from changing, face flushed from the rush of the chase. Adrenaline, however, soon gave way to lethargic pacing, and, as he knew she would, the elf flopped into the seat beside him and pulled her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around her shins. Artemis put down his water, knowing that he wouldn't be able to relax until he had sorted out what was on her mind.

"I don't like her," Holly said flatly.

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Minerva?"

She nodded.

"Well, she did kidnap you. I'm sure you have a right to feel angry."

"You kidnapped me, and I lo-like _you_," the LEP officer griped, then continued on hurriedly to cover up her mistake. "She's just... I don't know... distasteful. Petty."

The boy genius filed away her slip of the tongue for examination at a later date. "Holly, you've never spoken to her."

"Actions speak louder than words. She did this-" the elf flapped her hands about and nearly smacked her friend in the face, "for a freaking science prize!"

Artemis sighed and turned to gaze out the window, acting annoyed. He didn't mention to Holly just how fully he agreed with her.

0o0o0o0o0

Minerva strode as confidently as she could across the room. The moment she was within reach, the huge bodyguard - Butler, she believed his name to be - placed one large hand on her back, steering her forcefully towards the elevator. "Get kidnapped every day, do you?" he growled.

Fowl walked slightly behind them, looking one last time at his demon.

The elevator doors seemed to close impossibly slowly, but when the metal clanged shut, both men relaxed.

Artemis introduced himself, charming and polite, and she returned the favor with more warmth than was strictly necessary. Certainly he was two years older than she; but he appreciated her intelligence, he was up to par with her mental capacity, and to tell the truth, she would miss him when he vanished inevitably from her life. Under those circumstances, a girl couldn't help her mind turning to romance.

When the elevator stopped - too soon - she realized that there was something bigger going on, but her interrogations hardly get a few words from the older genius. Infuriating. Was this the way she came off to people?

But thanks to her own smarts, she caught up. Artemis had noticed the rune and realized the significance of this "sculpture," he had coerced Kong into inviting him here, and now the warlocks could be reanimated.

She was interrupted in her admiration of this plan by the art gallery doors re-opening. The next noise was a voice. A very peculiar voice. It was high, female, but not piercingly so, slightly musical, with a wide variation in pitch, and somehow sharp, as if prepared to be sarcastic at any moment.

"Gods above," it said. "Who invented demons anyway? This guy is freaking _heavy_."

"Good to see you, Holly," Artemis said, turning to face her, his tone far warmer than Minerva had yet heard it. She followed his eyes, her gaze finally alighting on the female demon they had taken earlier. She was small, and beautiful, there was no denying it, but there was an aura of danger about her that spoke of hidden talents. She was airborne on mechanical wings, holding No.1 by the chest, clearly only slightly exerting herself.

Then she met Minerva's eyes, and the obvious distaste in hers was enough to make the genius instantly dislike her.

This isn't just about the kidnapping. She is seriously resentful of me about something. Our only mutual connection is Artemis, so perhaps...?

Her theory was halfway confirmed a moment later when the girl dropped her fellow demon to the floor, brushed by, and slipped her hand into Artemis's, tugging. "Come on," she urged. "I'm breaking regulations for you as it is, let's get this goblin in the bonfire."

"Goblin in the bonfire?" the boy asked, amused, allowing himself to be led away. Minerva noted that everyone automatically followed him - he was the obvious pack leader.

Holly huffed, letting to of his hand and kicking him in the back. "It's an expression. Don't laugh at me."

"Never," he chuckled.

Snorting, she rested her elbow on his shoulder, turning back to Minerva and raising an eyebrow as if to say, _Whatcha gonna do?_

The genius held her gaze. _Don't challenge me. _

She narrowed her large eyes. _Watch me. _

_You don't want me as your enemy. _

_Too bad_. Holly fell back a bit from Artemis as they approached the art curator's desk, but not before she squeezed his shoulder gently. _He's mine_.

0o0o0o0o0

It was supposed to be longer, but I decided it would be cruel to postpone a new chapter any longer. Reviews are awesome. Chocolate is better.


	31. Chapter 31

Erm... hi.

Yeah, I'm back...

Don't kill me, please...

0o0o0o0o0

Holly felt right at home in the time stream. Or perhaps that was the wrong expression. "Right at home" implied comfort and security. So maybe "pleasurable" was the term to use.

Her body was gone, and her consciousness was elevated to a frame of awareness that was comprised entirely of emotion and thought. She sensed those around her, but preferred to stay wrapped in her own mind, a bit giddy with the electricity of her own feelings.

_Gods, how could I have ever denied what I feel for him? It's like an anvil crashing down on me. _

A really warm, enveloping, exciting anvil.

If she'd had a body just then, she would have squirmed. Instead, she took her infatuation and cuddled into it like a blanket, saturating herself with the happy.

A slight... pressure nudged at her consciousness.

_Shit. Is that him?_

Yes, it was. She could sense his personality and instantly strove to erect walls around her "inner sanctum," thanking every god that ever existed that he had the decency to "knock."

When he discovered that she was keeping him out, however, she could literally feel him become playful (he wasn't guarding himself as she was) and he poked a little harder at her shell.

_What are you hiding?_

_Nothing! _Holly was mortified to find that her voice (voice? Was that even the right word?) was high-pitched and slightly terrified.

Just in case, she uncoiled her affection from around her awareness and stuffed it away into a metaphorical box.

_Tell me_, he insisted.

_Not gonna happen. _

What happened next was rather embarrassing. To Holly.

Artemis exercised his superior mental force and put the elf in a headlock.

Most people never experience the feeling of wrestling without the benefit of arms, or legs, or anything else. Holly envied those people.

For the genius, it was a matter of merging his consciousness into the "space" that Holly's occupied, and then holding still with her trapped.

For the fairy, it was like being unable to think. She couldn't reach out to No.1 or Qwan or rationalize clearly.

_Uncool, Mud Boy. _

_I think I enjoy this. I can mentally physically beat you. _

_When we get out of here, you'll regret this_.

Artemis let her go. She almost missed his presence.

_This isn't good_, she thought, careful to shield her musings. _It's getting worse_.

Little did she know that Artemis was thinking the same.

0o0o0o0o0

Falling back into the world was almost a disappointment. Artemis missed Holly's presence. It had felt warm and comforting and protective. He looked over to where she was coughing and retching in the ash, and was hit again by how small she was. Fierce, yes. A dangerous fighter, certainly. But still tiny.

He crawled over and pulled her to her feet. "Holly," he said, deciding that he was shaken enough to give in to an emotional display. "Let me look at you."

She hesitated, but leaned away. "We don't have time," she urged.

He grasped her shoulders, keeping the elf close. "Holly, please. Let me look at you."

She frowned, confused, and searched his gaze. What...?

While he studied her carefully, face and body, he explained his own finger switch, the (stated) reason for his worry.

"You seem to be fine," he said, swallowing a mouthful of saliva. There were a couple of rips in her suit, including one slanting across her mid-thigh.

"Be careful," he sighed, patting her arm and struggling to his own feet.

She nodded, still totally confused. What the hell had _that_ been?

0o0o0o0o0

_Magic. He has magic. Arty has magic. _

_I'm going to have fun explaining that to Sool. Oh, joy. _

Holly shook her head, smiling wryly at the place where her friend stood triumphantly, hand raised, finger thrusting up, sparks spiraling rather impressively.

She saw his eyes stray, searching for her. They made contact, and he not bed an eyebrow. Looking for approval.

She sent him a grin and golf clapped, nodding appreciatively.

He inclined his head sedately in return, but she saw him fighting his twitching lips.

0o0o0o0o0

_Keep Artemis in sight. Just keep close, make sure nobody gets near him. _

_If he's hurt, I am going to get VERY VERY mad. _

One demon one stupid enough to cast a threatening glance in the human's direction, and was instantly taken down by a Neutrino blast that was_ just_ higher than conventional safe levels.

Then the time surges started coming, and Holly could no longer protect that which was most precious to her.

_Where is he? I can't- _

_Abbot_.

A burning, freezing pain in her chest.

Every part of her body except the agonized tissue between her sixth and seventh ribs went numb as she collapsed to the ash.

Her last moments were horrifying in their pure clarity. She could see and hear every tiny detail. But perfect sight wasn't necessary; her love's betrayal was obvious enough. As he turned away, Holly gasped, her heart pumping harder, killing her more quickly.

_No. No, why...? Why won't he even try?_

The answer came to her in a rush of horror.

_He never actually cared. He was manipulating me, playing with me for his own benefit. He doesn't need me anymore_.

The thought rang hollow, but she never had the chance to notice.

Holly Short was dead.

0o0o0o0o0

Their entwined lives flashed before his eyes, and it was all he could do to keep the count.

_Science and magic. Only that will save her now. _

Scenes flitted through his mind as he out of the corner of his eye watched her blood flow out of the gaping rent in her chest.

The frightened but hardened fairy he stood over that December night.

The vengeful officer who had punched him in the face at her first opportunity.

The annoyed and reluctant captain who had brought him to Haven for interrogation, capturing him in return.

The elf who had quizzed him about his father in the arctic, punched him again, covered him in rad-foam, healed Butler, cut off Spiro's thumb, cried at his mind-wipe.

The girl who had wept over her commander, run from her People to save him, offered her life for his to a mad pixie, laughed with him night after night, visited him every month.

The woman who had enticed him, body and heart, teased him, seen through his guises, followed him unflinchingly, claimed that she trusted him above all others, turned her back on rules and regulations, traveled across dimensions, and now, had died for one of his insane schemes.

The tears were already coming hard, but now Artemis sobbed, sinking to his knees, struggling to see the numbers flickering by.

_The count will save her. _

Another wracking spasm hit his body as another memory flew into his mind. He didn't remember when it had been, probably during one of their monthly meetings. He had said something funny, and Holly had laughed, throwing her head back, then turned to look at him, eyes sparkling, the moon lighting her hair, making her even more gorgeous.

Artemis crawled to her side, careful to remember the beat, and took her handgun.

_Abbot, you will pay. I will let you know what is about to happen right before it does, and you will watch everything you fought for die. _

Unhealthy, perhaps, but it felt good.

Shooting the pride leader was incredibly satisfying, but there was a moment of utter terror, accompanied by an insane thought.

_If this does not work, if Abbot is unconscious but Holly does not return, there will be no one left to kill me. _

_I will wish for death. _

He pulled the trigger anyway.

0o0o0o0o0

She coughed, sitting up. Her head hurt like hell, but Leon Abbot was lying in front of her, unconscious.

_Huh. I guess I fell over after I shot him and my memory got screwed up...? Or maybe it's just the whole time thing. Whatever. _

She yanked the laces out of his shoes, feeling a niggling at the back of her mind. There was something missing to her theory. Something had happened...

She brushed the notion off. Ridiculous. No. 1 and Qwan were setting the groundwork for a magic circle, Artemis was pulling the bomb over to them.

_Gods, he looks dejected. What is his problem? Nobody died. _

She finished tying the demon's wrists and ankles together and began the arduous task of dragging him across the crater.

Despite the huge differences in weight and how much each of them was _supposed_ to be able to pull, she caught up to her friend rather quickly.

His face when he first caught sight of her was almost comical. He blinked, then split into a wide grin, bringing a few rays of light into this godsforsaken dimension. He seemed incapable of ending the smile, instead opting to just look at her...and look at her...and look at her... Even her teasing him didn't seem to snap him out of his daze.

Holly made a mental note to ask him later what was wrong.

At present, she opted for dragging Abbot into the circle and joining in the chant.

Making sure to position herself so Artemis would have to hold her hand, of course.

0o0o0o0o0

Merging with Holly was the most wonderful thing he had ever felt.

Of course, out of courtesy, he stayed out of her thoughts and memories, but he failed to summon the willpower necessary to separate his personality from hers. It was like ethereal cuddling.

0o0o0o0o0

Holly was having the rather odd feeling that she was unaware of something. Something had happened, a ghost of it was floating like a veil in her mind. She tried to grasp at it, but it kept sliding away.

Then they left the time continuum completely and both realities that had taken place were made clear to her.

_You saved me_, she said in disbelief.

As their bodies disintegrated, their eyes met.

_It never happened_, he replied with a wink.

_We are having a long talk about this if and when we get home_.

She felt his sheepishness._ Yes, ma'am_.

0o0o0o0o0

That was insanely hard to write, so I understand if it sucked. Be brutal with your reviews. -hides under zebra blankie-


	32. Chapter 32

My copy of TLC went back to the library, so the dialogue might be screwed up. Sorry.

0o0o0o0o0

When her molecules were reassembled, and she lay panting on the warm sandy ash, Holly began to giggle.

They were home.

This was Earth, the sun was shining, and if she turned her head she could see Artemis spitting out grit (_he saved me_, she recalled giddily) and struggling to stand.

He glanced over at her and gave her a wide grin. She laughed aloud, running over and pulling him to his feet. She barely noticed their conversation, too busy reveling in his scent and face and voice. Having their selves merged in fluidity was wonderful, but gods above it was good to _see_ him.

It was only when she shot him a playful wink that his jaw slackened, and he stared. "Holly..."

She raised an eyebrow, secretly sort of glad that he was staring at her.

"Do you notice anything different about me?"

She scrunched her nose happily, preparing a teasing comment. "This doesn't have anything to do with puberty, does it?" She looked at him a little closer. "My gods, your eyes!"

He nodded, explaining what must have happened, but she wasn't really listening.

_I have one of his eyes. Is that good or bad? Good, probably. I'll get to see him whenever I look in a mirror. _

_...I'm going to be looking in mirrors a lot. _

Artemis was likewise thrilled. He looked down at her, noting how well the brown, golden-green, blue, and red of her face matched.

_I cannot be all that bad, if a part of me looks so natural in all that goodness. _

_Will this new eye start changing color according to my moods?_

_...I'm going to have to watch myself around her. _

0o0o0o0o0

Saying goodbye to Artemis then was one of the most buzz-killing things she had ever done, but at least she had the hug to compensate. She could smell him. Even under all that ash.

The kiss had surprised even her, and she licked her lips for the dozenth time, wishing again that she had aimed somewhere other than the cheek.

_He. Is. A. Child. _

_He can make his own choices!_

_And in what alternative universe would he voluntarily choose a seventy-six-year-old ELF with sub-par intelligence and no significant connections? He a godsdamned Fowl and if you don't forget about him and move on you are going to get seriously damaged again!_

Holly felt a three-and-a-half fingered hand close around her wrist, and she looked up from her lap to see a little red imp gazing seriously up at her.

"You love him. The human," he stated.

Unable to do anything else, she nodded helplessly.

No.1 nodded wisely, passing her an unused bandage. "It'll work out," he said.

The elf looked at him in confusion. This demon was how old, and he was calmly handing out life advice as comfortably as a dwarf grandpa?

Absurdly, she let herself be sucked in. She trusted this warlock. "I just... He's a rich human, well-known, his parents are going to expect a good marriage. We aren't even the same species, and then there the whole issue of the fact that he isn't in love with me."

No.1 smirked, but decided not to reveal the emotions he'd felt rolling off Artemis. "If it's meant to happen, it will happen," he said simply.

At Holly's other shoulder, Foaly snored, as if in agreement.

_I'm going to go insane_, _the people I keep company with_, she mused. _Then again, maybe I already have_.

0o0o0o0o0

After Butler had called his parents and Minerva (Artemis himself had declined the offer to speak to either; he wanted to have a long talk with his bodyguard first) they sat down at a low table in the little cottage.

"Well," said the huge man.

"I'm in love with her," Artemis blurted, unable to contain himself any longer. "I think about her near _constantly_, I can't finish a project without an image of her popping into my head. This started before I hit puberty, I see now, but I didn't recognize it for what it was at the time. I am completely and ridiculously in love with every facet of her being from her temper to her inflection to her _hair_, and I cannot bear the idea that I ever hurt her. I fear that this emotion will never fade, and yet I fear that it may, and I will be left lifeless. She healed me, old friend, fixed me when no one else could, and of all the people above or under the earth, for her to be the one I caught that December night proves to me that there surely is a God. It makes no sense; she is a creature as we all are; no body comprised of blood and flesh and nerve signals, particles, atoms, should be able to evoke such an agony in me but she _does_; she does it without trying and I wonder that it hasn't torn me asunder yet. Every contact I make with her is exhilarating; I can't look at her without my heart thudding at a pace which surely isn't healthy. She kissed my cheek as we said goodbye and I thought for sure I would faint." He looked up at his faithful protector, beseeching. "What do I _do_?"

Not at all taken off-guard by the outburst, Butler smiled. "Give her that speech and I'm sure she'll fall for you in no time. That was quite impressive."

The boy groaned.

"Oh, come now. At least there's the eye thing."

"What does that have to do with...?" Artemis trailed off, noting the man's unusually playful expression.

"Oh, just that it must be so enjoyable for you - a part of you inside her."

It took Artemis exactly three seconds to understand the innuendo. "_Butler_!"

The huge man laughed unrestrainedly.

The genius huffed. "Don't make jokes."

Nevertheless, several more comments were passed before their talk was done.

0o0o0o0o0

"You _what_?!" Foaly exclaimed.

Trouble just laughed.

Holly looked at them both - one amused, one horrified - and shrugged.

"Woah, woah, woah." The centaur held up a hand. "You are telling us… that you love… _Artemis Fowl_?"

"I believe it," the male elf said, still chuckling. "Can I taunt him about this?"

"_No_!"

"You take the fun out of everything."

"You take the sanity out of everything!"

"You take the plausibility out of everything."

"_Children_," Foaly admonished, earning general outrage.

"Foaly," Holly whined, "tell him he can't tell Artemis!"

"Trouble, you can't tell Artemis."

"Foaly," Trouble mimicked, "tell her I can do whatever I damn well want to because I'm her commander now."

"Not right now, you aren't," she reminded him, kicking his shin under her kitchen table.

"But I will be once we're back at Police Plaza."

"That doesn't give you the right to mess in my personal affairs, and you heard Foaly."

Foaly's opinion generally ended every argument; he was the 'parent' in their mismatched little family. The squabbling siblings were quick to turn on each other, but dominance could only be achieved by winning the good favor of the centaur. Bribery was not beneath them, either, which explained the vast reserves of carrots in each elf's possession.

Trouble pouted, looking very un-commanderlike.

"I kind of want to go talk to Cupid," Holly admitted.

"You should," advised her godfather. "Get this cleared up."

"No, I couldn't. I just took a three-year vacation, I have catching up to do."

"Ohhhhhhh, boy," Trouble mock-groaned. "Holly Short is back at the LEP. Quick, lock up all the fast wing sets."

She kicked him again.

0o0o0o0o0

"Minerva," Artemis said warmly. "It's good to see you."

"Artemis Fowl," she replied. They were video chatting via Artemis's laptop, which Butler had been keeping locked up in a drawer, just in case. "How have you been?"

The huge Eurasian was right; she was, conventionally, very pretty. But now, he looked upon her with an objective eye. Her hair was simply curly and blonde; her eyes, plain brown. There was no more than the possibility of friendship here.

He was glad of it.

0o0o0o0o0

Kaboom! I gave you a little extra tidbit.

The next chapter will be out soon and it is big and emotional and deep and important. So stay close to your computers tomorrow or later tonight.


	33. Chapter 33

Aaaaaaand I'm late again.

0o0o0o0o0

Five nights after their return to Earth was a full moon, and Holly climbed heavily into her pod, cheeks uncharacteristically damp.

_You know you have to do this. You have to give him this choice_.

The horrifying realization had come to her the first night home, as she had lain in bed and stared up at the ceiling, ruminating over their last adventure. She had thought, _huh, Artemis finally met someone his age_, and then the terrible idea had cut through her mind like a knife, lodged itself in her heart, and stuck there, cold and foreboding.

She rehearsed what she was going to say to him one more time in her head.

_What if I'm right? What if..._

_Then you let go_, she told herself firmly. That's it. _If that's what makes him happy, let go_.

0o0o0o0o0

Artemis lounged on his balcony, savoring the cool night air. He was certain Holly would find a way to make it to the surface, but unsure about when she would manage to do so, so he had brought a few books and settled in for a possible long wait.

A slight creak of rubber on wrought-iron pulled him away from his novel. He looked up to greet her, and froze. "Holly?"

She was biting her lip, chin quivering, clearly trying to keep some strong emotion under control. A thin film shone on her cheeks as though she had recently wiped away tears, and her gloves hands trembled as they gripped his railing.

He waited, not sure what he needed to do to comfort her, or whether staying in his chair was the better option for them both. He opened his mouth to ask what was the matter, but she interrupted him.

"I wasn't sure whether to come here tonight," the elf admitted, staring at the concrete.

Still not understanding, he chanced a gentle "Why?"

"I…" still not making eye contact, she swallowed hard, then her words rushed out. "Artemis, if you want to keep this relationship purely professional, I understand. You have a human friend and two brothers now, so you don't really need to rely on a mythological creature to be your only friend

beside your bodyguard. Minerva's a genius and I know that you can discuss things with her that I would never be able to comprehend, so I can see why I would be rendered sort of useless." She took a deep breath, but before he could interrupt her, continued, still determinedly addressing the floor. "You don't have to explain, if you want me to stop coming... I get it." She lowered her head even further and sniffed.

Artemis had frozen in his seat when he realized what she was suggesting, and had remained silent while she listed her reasons. He should have anticipated this, but then, there was no alternate reality in which Holly didn't mean the world to him, so he had never even considered the possibility that she might not realize herself how much she was worth.

She still awaited his verdict. His heart cracked as a single tear dripped from her eyelashes to the balcony.

"Holly, I'm sorry," he began quietly.

_I knew it_. She raised her head but refused to look at him. "I thought so. Really, Artemis, it's fine." Jumping swiftly to her toes and turning away, she bent her knees, preparing to leap off the railing and start her wings in the air because she just wanted to get _away_ -

And the wind was knocked out of her as Artemis lept, panicked, from his seat and for all intents and purposes _tackled_ her.

"_No_!" he exclaimed breathlessly, his arms crushing her ribcage. "How-" he spun her around then pulled her back into him, slamming her into his chest, tangling one hand roughly in her hair. "How could you even _think_ that was what I meant?! _Never_ try that again!"

Gasping like a beached fish, and rather disoriented, the elf tried to make sense of the world, but his scent was clouding her head, confusing her.

So she curled her arms around his neck and waited hopefully for his next words.

"Holly…" he let out a shuddering breath. "I have done everything I possibly can, in every context of our relationship, whether we were enemies, allies, friends… I have _always_ done all I can to keep you safe. During the siege I made sure you stayed alive; in the Arctic I reattached your finger; on Hybras I brought you back from the _dead_. Do you think I'm just going to let all that hard work go to waste?"

He felt the fairy in his arms shift slightly. Then clutch at him more tightly. Knowing she needed an emotional release, he rubbed her back in gentle circles. "Just let it out."

She broke, sobbing silently, allowing all the pent-up feelings of the last several days to flow out of her. Generally she had her "weak moments" alone at home, with a pillow and a stuffed unicorn (her twentieth birthday present from Foaly) to comfort her, but this was so much more effective, having living, breathing support. All her anger, fear, jealousy, rejection, detachment, confusion, sadness; all of it was dissipating with her tears. Artemis rocked her gently, quietly murmuring in her ear that crying actually released endorphins in the brain that literally made one happier, so technically this was healthy. She supposed he was either trying to stave off any possible awkwardness or was simply lecturing out of habit. Either way, it helped.

Artemis wasn't sure what he himself was feeling. It wrenched his heart to hear Holly cry, but it was a _good_ cry, a purging cry, and at least she was crying on him. An image of Riley flashed into his head, and his hand fisted a little tighter in her hair, earning - if he wasn't mistaken - a quiet moan.

He shivered, breaking the peace of the moment. Might as well say something now, before she got embarrassed and flew off. "Holly - know that Minerva will never, _ever_ replace you, all right? She _is_ a genius, but she doesn't have your heart." He paused. "And besides, sometimes I like to play chess against someone I can beat easily."

The light undertone of tension drained away from the atmosphere. It took the sultry romantic aspect with it, leaving the absurd attraction and all the hilarious times together. Laughing, she whacked his chest. "Right. You just couldn't _live_ without me."

He cocked his head to one side and lowered his eyelids to half-mast, regarding her carefully. She had expected a sarcastic reply, and felt her cheeks grow hot under his gaze, skin flaming where his hands still touched her.

"No," he muttered, so low she barely caught it. "I don't believe I could."

0o0o0o0o0

That didn't turn out how it looked in my head, but whatever.


End file.
